Beyond Description
by LadyPaige
Summary: Oliver's time on the Island was beyond description, being left there was beyond description, to never see Slade again was beyond description. Read and re-written by my Beta reader Didi111, all ready for your reading pleasure.
1. Music Matters

The island had been... well there was really no right way to describe it. There was hunger, aching, fear, anger, worry and fatigue, but the one feeling that Oliver could not stand was the feeling that his body just wanted to slip away. Maybe it was the exhaustion finally kicking in when he was safe in the wrecked plane, after Slade's so called "pleasantries", with food, water and a place to sleep. Oliver lay on his space of rest (not really a bed in his eyes, Oliver believed that a bed was not a bed without a mattress), for what felt like hours and every night for many week after he would still.

The young man was confused, what kept him up? He was fed, not by much but still fed. He had a so called bed to sleep in. He wasn't angry or sad about what was happening to him. Well, no, that's a lie -he was, but that wasn't it. Slade could kill him whether he was asleep or awake so there was nothing he could really do about that. He wasn't really sure, but he had a feeling that if he were to die it would most likely be his own doing not Slade's. Which had very nearly almost happened when Oliver had stood on a mine.

Oliver was trusting his gut on this one; Yao Fei had sent Oliver to this Australian, so he had to be the best chance Oliver had of getting of this Island. The only chance was always the best.

Over the next few years Oliver would not just befriend and trust this man but he would need him, not just in the way he needed him now-for protection, training, supplies and of course help to escape the Island -but for something much greater. To cope. To keep Oliver fighting not just for the pure need to survive but for the want to.

That's what, looking back, Oliver thought he may have been losing. Don't get him wrong, he didn't want to die, but in moments like these; where he was safe, he could sleep knowing there was someone nearby who could watch over him, no worries if only for the night, his usual passing out from exhaustion still set to happen but... this time it was different. Before he would literally pass out, but now it seemed it should be like real sleeping again. Closing his eyes, thinking of the places he would go and the things he would do and not too rarely; the people he would do.

Now it was different, very different. Oliver would lay there and mentally he was fine, he would push away the worries and try to sleep but physically; it felt as if his body was betraying him. He was dizzy, the world spun, just enough so that if he looked at the floor it would appear as if it had started gradually moving up the wall, as if the plane was rolling. His breathing was deeper, not loud enough for Slade to notice or worry enough to care for. It was weird but Oliver almost felt like his blood was slowing in his veins. His body overall felt like it was shutting down.

Slade had known. He could see the signs, the kid was just scared, in shock and he had a right to be. But he was a fighter, and that was good.

After their time together Slade would be amazed at the fighter Oliver had become; his smarts and speed at reacting were quick to develop, giving Slade high hopes of the kid's success. Over time the kid would become faster, stronger and more knowledgeable with weapons, hunting, herbs, general medicine and technology, which Slade made sure Fyers never found out about seeing as it gave the pair an advantage every now and again.

Slade kept an eye on the kid making sure he didn't fall into mental issues like depression or PTSD, which would be likely seeing as the kid had little training to deal with living like this, but for now the kid would have to just get over it. The older man generally joked with the kid and in the few moments of peace the pair had chatted, but the process was slow; Slade had good people skills -even if he had to fake it now and again -but the kid was closed off, especially at night when he would just stare at that same old picture.

Numerous weeks later Slade had found an Ipod while looking for another bar of soap in what Oliver dubbed Slade's big box of crap. Indeed it was, although Slade normally kept everything in its place due to years of military training, anything spare and/or not overly important was thrown into the box. The Ipod was a vibrant blue; he had spotted it one night when he had sneaked around a camp, where it lay forgotten next to a tent. Slade was not a stupid man, nor was he paranoid but every new thing he took which he believed could be bugged in some way would be stashed in the woods for a day. If there was no proof of trespassing (which there never really was but you could never be too careful) he would open it up and upon seeing no bugs he would keep it.

"Hey," Slade called to the younger man "Do you like music?"

Oliver turned from making his way to his bed, a smile would have pulled at his lips, thankful that he could put off trying to sleep for a few minutes more -if it wasn't for the odd question "Music?" he questioned "Wouldn't that give us away?" he cocked his brow. What was Slade up to?

Slade held up the Ipod by the wire of its earphones "Not if we use this," he looked at the music device "found it a while ago, bug free." he grinned turning back to Oliver "Well?"

Oliver smiled "Okay."

Oliver guessed Slade was planning on listening with him, which he didn't mind. In fact, his smile grew; he wanted to see what the older man's taste in music was like. However Oliver was a little lost on how they were going to do this.

Slade stood up from next to the box, waving the kid to follow him. Slade sat down on his makeshift bed, leaving room for the kid to join and he turned on the device, running his fingertip over the circular pad to see what songs were on it.

Oliver watched the older man for a while, not knowing what he would do if he lay next to him.

A grin pulled at Slade's lips. With his spare hand he patted the space next to himself, never taking his eyes or other hand from the Ipod.

Oliver was a little taken back but before he could over think anything he pushed himself forwards, making his way to the bed. Once he got there Slade lay on his back, shifting lightly to make himself more comfortable.

Slade used his spare hand to grab an earphone. Raising his arm just so it was propped on the elbow, he flicked his wrist back "Earphone." he said simply.

Slade and Oliver lay pressed up to each other because of the lack of room, both a little tense and Slade near completely stiff, although his facial expression betrayed no discomfort. With an earphone each they listened and spoke about the music. Slade had the Ipod so if a song came up that Oliver didn't like he would simply say "Next" and Slade would press the button to access the next song -however Oliver was not heartless; he always looked over to see what the older man thought about the song. Slade actually liked an odd song here and there, Oliver didn't but it made the man happy and songs he actually liked didn't come around that often, so Oliver let him have it.

Oliver liked a song with a good beat, something he could imagine a story happening to. He never told anyone how when he was younger he would live in his own little world with only the music to guide him. His life had been great, and maybe it wasn't right now but Slade was helping even if he didn't mean it. As a kid it was about the adventure and wonder, and as he had gotten older he found that music once again allowed him to be the kind of person he wanted to be. And that person was gay. Take away Fyers and his men, the lack of food, and replace Slade with a man attracted to Oliver and this would be his dream. Somewhere away from the world with a man who deep down Oliver knew would be a lot like Slade; strong, smart but not smug, a hell of a body with dark hair and eyes. A dream is a dream is a dream.

Slade's choice in music seemed to be more lyrical, all the words were clear and well written, for that reason all the songs he seemed to like were slow -minus Eminem whom Slade had never heard before but seemed to like very much. The rapper had a place in Oliver's heart too. The guy was a talented writer; his music was catchy and funny.

The Ipod had been filled compilation albums, things like "Greatest Hits!" or "The Best of..." Oliver had noted that all the albums were new; pointing out that there was nothing personal about it. Maybe the owner was just shallow.

Slade laughed "So this man works for someone like Fyers, kidnapping and killing just for the money, but is sensitive about people knowing he does not like" he quoted with his index and middle fingers "the popular music."

It was more of a point than a question but Oliver still replied "Everyone is sensitive in different areas." He was about to continue to list examples like music, weight, looks and so on when Slade rolled onto his side, facing away from Oliver, laughing. Oliver sat up, put a hand onto Slade's shoulder, just about to roll him back over and ask what he was laughing at when he realised the innuendo.

Oliver glared at the bad of the Australian's head; he held the scarf over his eyes which in turn covered the rest of his face below. The joke was not that funny but brought a smile to Oliver's face, glad to see the man laugh.

Things would get worse but being with Slade would always make things better. Even if after this moment he knew that he wanted a man, this man, but couldn't have him. A dream is just that; A dream. However when you think about it; if you want that dream badly enough, maybe it was worth trying for.


	2. Left Behind

- Starling city -

Oliver stood in front of his full length mirror, wearing a simple black suit, shoes and a bright white shirt with the first and second button undone. No scars were anywhere near visible and the young man wanted that to stay the case. Oliver always felt better wearing black; it made him feel like he could just slip into the shadows if he wanted to do so. There had been an odd freedom about the Island - Oliver may have been trapped there and he may have been dependent on Yao Fei and Slade for pretty much everything at first but he did survive entirely by himself for the last six months after Slade had left him behind.

Oliver knew he was not really mad at the Australian; there had been mass panic, Fyers was dead, evidence of the event had been sent to government of some sort or "My bosses" Slade had said in that sexy voice of his – one often heard whispered into Oliver's ear as his strong hands traced the hills and dips of the younger man's skin, eyes scanning over and over as if constantly amazed and disbelieving that such a body could exist and that it was somehow all his. Slade would watch and feel Oliver's body as if it were some sort of treasure, that even his imperfections were perfections, like rich Egyptian silk sewn together with golden string.

Slade had a habit of making Oliver's mind wander, which had been the thing that had led to Oliver being left on the Island. The big "boss battle" as Oliver had dubbed it, to which Yao Fei and Shado had raised a brow and Slade had laughed at the video game reference, was difficult but planned - set to occur not long after Oliver's second tattoo. The first had been made by Shado with a simple sewing needle and black and red ink after becoming a master archer, the image of a red sea dragon forever engraved into his skin which upon first sight and every sight after made Slade's eyes shine with pride. It was by far the one scar Oliver would never see as such, he had pride for it too, proud that he had become a true warrior that even on this Island could face his back to the world and easily block, fight, defeat and protect those he loved if someone were to attack.

The second tattoo had once again been given to him by Shado, under the watchful eye of the Russian leader of the Solntsevskaya Bratva, whose life he had saved. The man had been fooled by his most trusted man, second in command it seems, to go to the Island for business. On a quick solo scouting mission Oliver had seen the man, in a cage like a wild animal, speaking Russian so quickly it made him sound like one. Upon eavesdropping to find out who the man was and with the constant moral need chipping away at him to save the man, Oliver deemed the man important and did in fact save him. His skills in archery were still unknown to Fyers men via removing his type of arrows, especially when he was with Yao Fei and/or Shado. They couldn't have anyone putting it together. His actions were quick, hood up to hide his identity if he were to be seen. Oliver did not remove the his arrows; he did know they would be blamed for this, who else was there to blame? Fyers would believe that his men had been shot, but with no bullets and shells and the wounds too small for knives, it would have to be arrows and no arrows? Well that would make things interesting. Oliver's arrows were different than the others, a man's own arrows makes him a true master archer or something... but Fyers did not need to know that, he would probably never find out and everyone wanted to keep it that way for now.

The man in the cage stood leaning against the bars. He looked to be in his late forties, his hair was dark brown almost black with line of grey, he wore a black perfectly tailored suit and his body was large, muscular with just a bit of fat. There was a threatening vibe about him that would have wet the pants of the Oliver back in Starling city.

He was frightened, even if to any normal person he looked fearless, Oliver could see it in the way his hands gripped the cage, his body far too straight, stiffened as he tried to cover his fear. He was cornered which, even if scared, would make him likely to strike out. Oliver had been taught Russian by Slade and later on Mandarin by Yao Fei and Shado, both of which he spoke fluently. These lessons were more about giving Oliver more knowledge; it would give them two secret languages to speak like their very own code switching from one to the other to hide the translation. Slade also taught Oliver a bit of Arabic and Persian/Farsi when they were training or hunting - which often lead to sex seeing as they were not as alone as they had been before back at the plane.

Oliver walked up to the man in the cage, stopping a couple of steps away and placing his bow and arrows on the floor. He lowered his hood and bowed his head so that the back of his neck was visible, hands placed palms together. Yao Fei had said that this way of greeting was to signal trust and the exposure of the neck showed vulnerability being that it was a place that hit hard enough could disable/kill you. Even if the man was in a cage Oliver wanted the man to believe him when he said in Russian "Hello, I am Oliver." He raised his body back to see the man "Myself and some friends of mine seem to be in the same situation as yourself. We have been here a lot longer" Oliver pick the bow up and held it for the man to see "as you may have guessed. We are working to get off this Island." he placed the bow back on to the floor "Would you join us?"

After a bit more talking, Oliver made sure to walk were Yao Fei would be hunting; he would have to assess if the man should be let into the camp. Yao Fei had jumped in front of them from a tree; the man had jumped out of his skin whereas Oliver had heard him coming. The man later helped find a way of the Island. Oliver's reward for both getting him out of the cage and soon to be off the Island had been a star tattooed on his left breast signifying that he was a high ranking member of the Bratva. Slade kissed Oliver senseless that night.

The man had been able to send a coded message to get them off the Island whereby Slade was also given the chance to pass off the evidence of what was happening of the Island. The plan to escape was long and complex yet simple; they would start by stealing all available explosives, disabling mass weaponry, killing all those in command post, Fyers and basic leaders when at all possible. While this was happening an alert would go out for evacuation via planes that were on the way, that the rebels were planning a suicide mission to eliminate everyone and everything on the Island with the explosives they had stolen over the years - which they had; they had kept a few but most they had water logged and hidden, although the mercenaries didn't know that. They also didn't know that the planes were not theirs but the Government's, everyone would get on including Oliver, Slade, Yao Fei, Shado and the Bratva leader. Who was who would be sorted out afterwards via the symbol they all had written on a plain white shirt they all had on to signal who was part of the plan.

The five were split into two groups - Yao Fei, Shado and the Bratva leader to keep him safe and Slade and Oliver to take out Fryers and the command posts. Both teams would take out potential issues and plant "bombs" to cause panic and the image of threat and rescue covering the unforeseen trap. Everything was working when ranks were broken; the planes had landed set to move very soon; after all they had to keep up the act. They all had met up in the stolen mercenaries uniforms, faces covered, set to go. Yao Fei was not there and the Bratva leader was injured. Slade went back to help which he did, Yao Fei came back but then Slade had been recognised by a large group of men. The Australian managed to drag the fight away; he could not have the mercenaries knowing what had happened until they had left the Island and landed. Yao Fei, Shado and the Bratva leader went on, Oliver went to help. Oliver had to save Slade and to stop the truth coming out. He killed and killed, fought his way to find Slade but Slade was gone and before he knew it, he was out of time. The planes were leaving. "Slade!" Oliver screamed "Slade!"

Slade was not on the Island. Oliver had searched the whole Island, the plane and all the bodies. Slade was safe, they all were but Oliver, Oliver was still there. Alone.

Six months later a boat had shown up, in a place where fishing was pointless. Oliver was rescued. When Oliver used his ties to the Solntsevskaya Bratva to get information from the Bratva leader of Starling city, he was later given a message that the Bratva of Russia hoped that Oliver had enjoyed his boat journey, courtesy of some old friends of his. "Yao Fei and Shado" Oliver had thought and smiled.

Oliver sighed. 'Friends' went more than one but were all three okay?

Slade...

- Lian Yu -

After the night with the Ipod things really started to pick up; there were still the morning runs, push ups, sit ups and pull ups, breakfast, more push ups and pull ups by which point his arms would be dead, then lunch - but instead of more running afterwards to kill his legs Slade took Oliver hunting. There was a lot of walking so it still killed his legs but Slade wanted to teach him how to hide and keep quiet, which seemed easy but really was not. The mercenaries, as Slade had said were all "drones". Fyers could just replace them, which Oliver had said "was no way to treat a human life."

"Then learn to hide," the older man held his arms up high "Killing them would mean more recruits, meaning a possible way out of here," he added, lowering his arms back to his sides "but," he held up his index finger to signal his reason not "It's far too obvious." he place his hand back down looking out towards the forest "Tried it once before. Didn't work with two men let alone a man and a half," he looked back at Oliver "Scratch that. A man and a bit."

Oliver glared at the man but knew what he had meant; Oliver wondered if that was when Slade and Billy Wintergreen had been caught. Were they tortured? Likely but for how long, Oliver didn't want to know. The point was Billy Wintergreen had chosen to work with Fyers and now Billy was dead, killed by Slade.

Slade had missed his chance of going home by going after Oliver and had to kill his best friend, and yet there was no blame laid on Oliver. Slade did not like Oliver at first because one: he had found Slade and two: he was sent by Yao Fei but he was of no use. Oliver had proved himself a fighter when getting out of that chair but it still took two weeks for Slade to warm up to Oliver. Once he did however he seemed to really enjoy the younger man's company. Oliver _had_ guessed that the man had just been lonely, he couldn't put his mind on it but something told him that was not the case, that he liked Oliver for a reason. He still made jokes like the ones about Oliver being weak or having a silver spoon stuck up his arse but there was no malice, the jokes seemed more aimed at getting Oliver to work hard and sometimes even just to make connection with the younger man. Slade was rough around the edges but he was a pleasant person, the night with the Ipod had shown at least as much.

"The point is they are not normally good trackers but a few of them could know a thing or two." Slade took the empty black gun bag from where it lay on his back, held on by his shoulder. The bag was long and thin for longer guns - sniper rifle? Oliver had wondered what it was for but figured Slade would tell him sooner or later. "You're going to take this," he quoted with his fingers "gun," he started grabbing hand sized rocks and placing them into the bag "I'll give you so long then I'm coming to find you." He threw in a handful of pebbles "You'll have to be quick, quiet and stay hidden." After a minute, once he had the bag filled to his liking, he stood and faced Oliver "I'll find you in the end but how long you can stay hidden is the important bit." he continued, holding the bag out to the younger man.

Oliver took the bag strap prepared for the weight as not to embarrass himself, "So," he huffed lightly as he put the bag into place "we're playing hide and seek?"

Slade grinned "You'd never be able to find me."

Oliver thought for a moment, then looked up "You'd hide up a tree." he said, it was guess but Oliver did not let that slip just in case he was right. Slade seemed like the kind of guy who both could and would hide up a tree. He looked back to see that Slade's eyes were slightly boggled, eyebrows raised, head cocked. Oliver grinned.

"Lucky guess." he mumbled, turning away from Oliver "Okay test run. You have thirty seconds." he paused for a moment, unknown to Oliver he grinned "Go."

Oliver went; he had a feeling he was going to be found quickly but he had to learn this, so what the hell. He ran so far then he slowed down to quieten his step, scanning his surroundings for possible hiding places, hand holding the bag down to quiet his movements further. Time was running out. Spotting a hedge, he crawled inside, pulling the brush over the hole he had made. He waited, his heart beating quickly and his breath too heavy for his liking. He distracted himself by looking around through the dark green leaves for other potential hiding places for next time. Oliver was not surprised that the leaves and grass were so green with all the rain that he had seen while he had been on the Island. Oddly the more he saw it the more he liked it, okay it was cold and damp but the green earth made it seem so natural and peaceful... for an Island full of mercenaries. Having lived in a big house meant a big garden; Oliver could still remember the years he, Tommy, Thea and his dad would roll around on the freshly cut grass. He missed his father, he was not like most business men, he did not wear suits unless he had work and he loved to play with the kids in the grass and dirt, even with Tommy whom he saw as practically his son, which Oliver loved. He had always wanted a brother and Tommy was his brother regardless of blood. His father did have his downsides; he never shouted but he was a man whose orders you would listen to. Oliver knew since he was a teenager that he would never be able to be gay openly or in the shadows until his father was gone, else Oliver himself would have to leave but he knew his father had both the money and ties to find him.

In the distance Oliver could see large dip in the earth the length of a path. Was that a ditch?

Oliver heard Slade before he saw his feet heading towards him, he looked straight at the space Oliver knew the older man would appear with an annoyed look on his face, and true enough a few moments later Slade moved the bush away with a grin of his face. The look on Oliver's face only made him grin wider.

"Found you." he said simply "Too obvious." he held a hand out to Oliver "Another go?"

A challenge?

Oliver grabbed the hand and held on as Slade pulled him from the hedge with ease. The younger man grinned devilishly and nodded.

Challenge accepted.

Same rules as last time; Slade turned around and Oliver had thirty seconds to hide.

Oliver chose a different tactic, running to the side to make Slade think he had stopped somewhere before walking over to the dip he had seen. It was a sudden decline, eroded by years of traffic, human and otherwise, making the wide path almost into a ditch. On the other side of the ditch there was a slope leading into a second natural ditch in which water had slightly build up, making its way alongside the path. It was just low enough to hide behind but then he spotted a tree just on the edge, almost about to fall into the first ditch had it been a younger smaller tree. He jumped lightly into the ditch, hoping to hide his tracks by walking along it, making his way to the tree. The tree's roots stuck out somewhat along the wall of the ditch making it look like carvings but the tree was strong, it was not going anywhere. The tree was wide but the best thing was it had a large thick hedge right next to it. He grinned and proceeded to hide behind the tree in the ditch, taking a small pebble from the floor in-between his index and middle finger tips and the "gun" from his back, balancing it flat on his palms. He looked down at the hard dirt floor - even the shadows were on his side. Oliver had a plan.

Not long after, he heard movement; he listened to how close it was. His heart was beating rapidly both from fear and excitement. After a few moments of waiting the soft thump of Slade's boots mixed with the light squelch of the wet moss sounded just ten or so feet away. Oliver grinned like a cat stalking its prey. It was time.

Slade was making his way towards the ditch, close to the tree which Slade must have known would have been a doubly good place to hide, seeing as the tree would have covered Oliver if he were to stand. Oliver hoped he would have done this, had he not he would have just stayed hidden. Slade seemed to be going to the right side of the tree so Oliver placed the "gun" on the left side of the hedge. Oliver slowly lifted his body onto the side of the ditch hiding behind the tree and hedge, and then took the pebble that still sat between his fingers and threw it into the water. Seeing as Slade would not be able to see the water until he got to the edge Oliver hoped the older man would follow the sound thinking the younger man was hiding down there. He did.

Oliver balanced the "gun" back onto his palms as to not about to forget it; he was going to win in every way if it killed him. Slade made his way to the sound and Oliver made his way around the hedge and stood. Oliver stood behind Slade. The shadows, as Oliver had made sure to check before, were behind them so Slade would not see it coming. Oliver stood right behind him, a few steps away so the older man did not strike out and... Oliver took at deep but silent breath, he was not going to fuck up after coming this far, watching as Slade's eyes scanned the ditch.

"Slade!" he said loudly, yet not a yell that could draw any unwanted attention.

Slade jumped and spun around, weapon just sliding out of its holder "Fuckkkk~" the word had started loud but it quietened down gradually as the older man dragged the last letter, his body relaxing.

Oliver had the world's largest shit eating grin on his face "Scare you?" The grin amazingly got even wider "Did I?"

Slade grinned back "Little shit," the older man stepped forward and fluffed up the kid's hair with his hand.

Oliver ducked and turned away to get away from the hand but the hand and the body it belonged to followed. Slade was chuckling Oliver had noticed which almost made him still but he was not getting caught just yet. Oliver turned, Slade turned, Oliver ducked down, Slade ducked down. Slade's body was pressed up to Oliver's back but before anything could go any further, the twosome tripped over each other's legs – which, thinking about it in hindsight, would have been bound to happen.

Slade landed on his butt, Oliver went with him, his back hitting the older man's front causing them both to fall further back, Slade falling onto his back with Oliver landing on his arm, not the one that he had been shot in thankfully. Seeing as the fall had been split into two bits and was slow to begin with neither man was hurt.

Oliver lay there for a second, enjoying having Slade's warm body close by him much like the night they used the Ipod for the first time. They had used it almost every night but after the third time they stopped, conversation between the two had been coming along well, months had passed since that day and the two got on fine. The bad nights had got fewer as well; from every other night to one night a week, to twice in a month. Slade did help with that, Oliver knew. Which is why if anyone asked Oliver would say that was the reason he did not feel uncomfortable right now, they were friends. But Oliver knew the real reason. He liked Slade; for his body, personality and just generally everything that was Slade. Laying like this on the man's thick bicep, nose tip just touching his elbow, Oliver could pretend that this was normal, that this is what Oliver and Slade did... on a deserted Island crawling with mercenaries.

Oliver knew only seconds had passed but he was starting to wonder why Slade had not just pushed him off. The younger man lay there for a few more seconds, guilty but happy for just a little longer but his worry was starting to build. Why was Slade not moving? Was he... Oliver's body stiffened; here he was enjoying this when his friend could have been injured. Oliver was just about to move when he felt movement behind him. He stiffened further but turned his head just in time for Slade to roll onto his side; pressing his body into Oliver's back, his chin on the younger man's shoulder. Dark brown eyes linked with a set of light green, the kind that of green that grass was after you just mowed the lawn, green with specks of yellow, along with something different. A few thin waves of aqua blue.

Slade smiled, pulling his trapped arm back then rolling the man onto his back. Slade balanced himself on one elbow while the hand of his other arm went to the man's hair, fingers running through the blonde locks. He lent forward, faces inches apart, as close as you could get without getting cross eyed, eyes staying linked the whole time. Oliver's eyes went from boggled to half shut, the thick muscular arm next to his head, the strong yet soft hand in his hair. The light warm breath on his mouth, the dark pools looking into his green. Oliver knew what he wanted, he did not need to think twice, and he returned the smile.

Slade lent forward and brought their lips together in a chaste kiss.

- Starling city -

Oliver smiled at the memory of their first kiss. That was a good day. Back then he used to wonder if when they went home Slade would ever want to see let alone be with him again. Oliver's smile fell, he looked into the mirror. Before the Island Oliver would have thought of himself as sex itself on legs even if now he was a lot better looking... well maybe not with all the scars. Oliver knew what would happen if people saw them, they would demand to know what caused them. He would not mind telling a person or two but then they would baby him. Wrap him in blankets, give him some sort of hot chocolate drink, hug him and tell him the world was a good place. What was he supposed to say?

"Mum, Thea don't worry it was not all that bad. Okay I saw dad shoot a man and himself in the head so I could live and just as I had buried him a man shot me with an arrow. I was also tortured, I killed people; the first by accident whose clothes I had to wear, then I had to kill to survive. More killing and mental scarring but it's okay because now that dad is dead I can tell you that I'm gay. Boyfriend? I did have constant sex with a forty year old Australian Secret Intelligence Service agent, who ha ha, you'll love this; made me prove I was worth saving by breaking my own arm to get out of the chair he had tied me to and punching him in the face. But other than that he's really nice and I like him. No I..." Oliver sighed and said out loud "I love him." Oliver sat on his bed, face in his hands "And isn't that just all kinds of fucked up." he mumbled.

- Lian Yu -

They kissed and kissed, Oliver grabbing handfuls of Slade's black shirt and as he introduced tongue; via a light lick at Oliver's lips which he willingly opened and shivered as the tip drew patterns on the roof of his mouth, dancing alongside his own tongue. Slade pulled back slightly and slowly nipped the younger man's bottom lip twice before kissing the area he had bitten, stroking Oliver's hair before he returned to kissing him. His kisses were slow and relaxing, Oliver's hands had at some point started to tighten and relax on the handfuls of fabric like a content cat kneading a soft blanket.

Slade pulled away, a light smile on his face "As much as I would like to keep doing this," he laid another chaste kiss on Oliver's lips before pulling back "and I would," he grinned "We have to get back to the plane." He kissed Oliver's ear to which the younger man shivered. Slade then, just to be evil, slowly ran his thigh over the bulge in-between Oliver's legs. Oliver gasped, his eyes fluttered shut. Slade sat back on to his knees and slapped Oliver's thighs and said "Okay, time to go."

Oliver held the urge to call Slade a dick for taking his leg away his crotch and glared at him. He had that "I've stolen something from Oliver and I liked it" grin, the same one he had every morning when he shook Oliver awake for their morning run.

- Starling city -

Oliver made his way down the stairs to see Thea sitting on the sofa ready; dressed, made up and waiting.

"What took you so long?" she demanded, clearly annoyed.

"Sorry," he held his hands up in surrender "fell asleep." Oliver hoped she would believe that, he looked a little down, felt even more so. It was a good cover; Oliver hated naps, tried it once or twice and just hated it. He liked sleeping, but naps were only an hour or so long so they left him even more tired than before and they made him feel like it was the next day. Those two things made him disappointed and confused which lead to him just being plain pissed off. He had napped a few times on the Island after Slade and he had sex, those were the only naps that he has ever enjoyed. Oliver sighed.

"No, no, no," Thea said, pulling her leather coat on and running over to Oliver, heels clicking as she went "You said you would go." she pouted at him "Ollie~" she whined "You have to go," She smiled "You could help us with the mystery army guy."

Oliver was going to go anyway but what Thea had said just then made him wonder "Army guy?" he raised a brow.

Thea smiled "It's the cutest thing ever," she grabbed his arm "come on, I'll tell you on the way."

Oliver needed to spend more time with his sister, he loved her dearly but he had a feeling she would not want to play in the grass like they did when they were kids. He didn't want her to drink or do drugs but he didn't know how to connect with her. He did not want to just sit there, nod and agree with everything she said to make her happy, he wanted to have a connection with her again. The list took up a lot of his time which made it look like he wasn't trying, but it wasn't like he could tell her what he was doing.

The pair got into the car "Okay this guy-"

"No." Thea pointed a finger in his face "You're not getting out of this."

"No," Oliver said; hands once again up in surrender "I meant," he pointed out "when we get to the club we could solve this mystery guy like a case."

This was apparently the right thing to say because Thea smiled "Okay, I'll text Ash; she'll tell me what she remembered about the guy."

A couple of minutes later Oliver and Thea were sitting in one of the private booths, the cold red leather feeling good on his hot skin from the warmth of the club. Oliver liked his club; it made him feel like he could relax knowing his bow and arrow was just a small walk away. It was odd that now being back at home he knew he felt somewhat safer at the Island. He knew how everyone worked back there, he never had to hide who he was although it was freaky as hell that one time when he and Slade had come back from one of their longer than normal (wink, wink) hunting trips. The twosome had come back with a few birds and a rabbit and just walked into their little camp. Shado had looked to her father who had smiled and nodded, Shado turned to look at them, winked at Oliver and mouthed "Have fun?" and grinned. Oliver had turned red. How the hell did they know? Slade had out right laughed.

The other thing he liked was that his family there could look after themselves; he never had to fear for their safety. They were a family; he'd lived with Slade for over half a year, then Shado had joined and later on Yao Fei. Oliver had learnt different things from each of them; hunting, work outs, weapon work and fighting/defending from Slade, herbs and medicine with Yao Fei along with the bow with Shado and they all taught him different languages mostly by only talking Russian in the camp, all of them refusing to give it up. Sex with a man speaking Russian with an Australian accent was a new one, the Russian did sound a bit threatening which just turned Oliver on further. "I need to get away from these people." Oliver had thought, shaking his head with an amused smirk on his face. This was a family. His uncle, his cousin and his... the man he had sex with from time to time which everyone seemed to know for some reason. If only the mercenaries weren't there, mercenaries ruin everything.

"So," Oliver placed his elbows on the table, hands held together with entwined fingers, leaning forward with a facial expression of jokingly over the top enthusiasm "tell me the story."

Thea gave him a glare and a slight raised brow as if to say "Your kidding, right?" to Oliver's childishness, but she told him any way "I saw this guy in the club two nights ago," she started, eyebrows knitted in confusion "he was dressed up kind of like in the army, but not." Thea looked at Oliver "He was wear black lace up boots and he just had this army look about him." she moved her hands around as if they were painting a picture of the man.

Oliver was a little worried; he hoped this was something The Hood was not needed for.

"Oh God, was he good looking," Thea smiled.

"I'm beginning to see the mystery here,"

"Shut up," Thea pointed at Oliver "He was worn out like he had just got off a plane but he didn't leave until the club shut down."

Oliver raised a brow.

"Tommy told me."

"Oh."

"Anyway," she smiled, the mystery must be coming up soon "Last night Ash was out with that guy she's been going out with now and she saw the army guy. This time he was dressed down but looking ready for the army kind of action." she point at a table, Oliver guessed the man must have been sat there "He sat there and just seemed to wait so before Ash left, she and... Max?" She thought for a moment "Yeah Max. Anyway they went over to him to ask if he was waiting for someone and he said something like; Yeah I got here yesterday and I know she comes here sometimes." Thea smiled "Max asked if she was hot and the guy said" she put her hands together, finger spread, she moved her hands away from each other, like she was expressing the title of a movie "gorgeous" she gasped.

Oliver nodded taking it all in, nothing for the hood to worry about. He lent back into his seat and took a swing from his beer, made a satisfied "Ahh" and looked back to Thea "So he stayed till the club closed again and," he point the beer neck at Thea "you think he'll come again tonight."

"Yes." Thea nodded "We may have to wait awhile 'til he gets here so I got the sign in sheets from last night and the night before to see if we can find him." she placed the folder onto the table from her lap.

"You know his name?" Oliver asked.

"No," she held her hands up to stop Oliver from saying anything, "but Ash said he sounded like he was from New Zealand."

"Okay," Oliver gave a smile "just look for something New Zealandie," he joked. Oliver and Thea sat together and looked over the list looking for males who had been at the club both nights. It would not take too long but it was boring, and Oliver's mind started to wonder about Slade again so as Thea was scanning the lists for names, Oliver closed his eyes and his mind wandered.


	3. Honey Works Well

- Lian Yu -

The trip back to the plane was awkward for Oliver who held the empty gun bag on his thigh facing Slade to hide his shame, which the man very much knew was there.

"Want me to take that bag for you?" Slade asked, not even trying to hold back his grin.

"It's not heavy," Oliver kept his poker face.

Slade chuckled.

Oliver liked to hear the older man laugh, even if it was at Oliver's expense. Oliver liked seeing the other man happy, like when he had chased Oliver after the younger man had made him jump, which had led to the kiss and the older man had really liked that - especially when he got to cock block Oliver with what seemed like responsibility but was in fact just pure evilness. Oliver's lips and chin still felt lightly burned from Slade's moustache and beard, most likely due to Oliver's own skin being sensitive after shaving this morning. Oliver much preferred the fresh faced look and feel. Shaving with a knife had felt very odd and he had to be very careful about it, feeling like any minute he would stab himself in the eye.

"So how was this so called 'training' supposed to help me unless Fyers finds me and molests me to death..." the question drifted off. It was a joke but it made him think about being sexually tortured, Oliver had been tortured before and he liked to think that if it came to saving Yao Fei and/or Slade that Oliver would not give up, but he worried that he would. His head and lips dipped sadly. He had to stay strong and keep fighting. He had no idea what was the worst thing he could suffer and he wanted more than anything to just hide in the plane and never leave -but he had to get out of here. His hands tightened on the bag strap. He would get Yao Fei and Slade off this Island if it killed him.

"Hey," Slade grabbed Oliver's shoulder to stop him "You're gonna be alright," he wrapped his arm around the younger man's shoulder and gave him a squeeze "I'll protect you and one day," he lifted the younger man's chin so their eyes met "you'll be able to protect yourself. I believe that." he then leant forwards and they kissed. After a moment or two the twosome separated but stayed touching shoulder to shoulder, hands knocking lightly together as they walked.

After a few minutes Slade attempted to bring back the humour "I regret getting you to do yoga."

Oliver looked over at the older man "Why?" he cocked his head. The Yoga was just stretching so that Oliver's body could get used to all the working out and to increase flexibility.

"The cat," Slade said simply.

Oliver smiled understandingly; the cat was a pose where by the person stood on their hands and knees, stretching their arms forward and sticking their bum out like a cat stretching. "Next time I do that I'm going to wiggle my butt a little and cock block you," Oliver grinned.

They got back to the plane, by which point the awkwardness had returned, questions like; 'What now?' 'Do we...?' hanging in the air.

Oliver took the empty bag over to where the rifle was hidden and placed it on the floor. He had no idea if the two of them were going to continue what they had started before. He hoped so, he really hoped so but Oliver did not want to go over and just ask. There had to be a sort of signalling or something. Who topped and who bottomed was easy, Oliver would not admit this but he wanted to bottom. He had tried penetration with his fingers and oh God did it feel good. It felt different but not strange and Oliver could not get enough of it - but he knew he had to stop, that by doing it he would ruin so called "normal" sex. Oliver had to go out with women like any man should be doing, which meant at some point there would be sex. If Oliver could not perform and the woman he chose told the press... What twenty one year old wasn't having sex with women? A gay one. And that was it for Oliver, he did not know what would happen, he never wanted to.

Oliver ran a hand through his hair, the other question was; how far should they go? Oliver had no idea. He couldn't go all the way, it would be painful, but what did Slade want? For all Oliver knew the guy regretted the whole thing and wanted to forget about it. If Oliver got home could he be openly gay? Would he ever get home? Would he die here? Die a closeted gay virgin? If he were to die here he hoped people would just believe he died on the boat. It's not like any one would know everything any way, he would not have an obituary that said; Oliver Queen, twenty one, was a strong man, a brave-ish man who was taken before his time by mercenaries before he could get his gay on with a smoking hot Aussie on a apparently "deserted island". Maybe it wasn't that bad, he could have the world's weirdest obituary, and who said that every cloud didn't have a silver lining.

Oliver jumped, feeling a set of warm hands on his hips.

"You over think," Slade's warm breath felt wonderful against his ear.

Oliver squeezed his thighs together as if somehow it would stop his arousal, but then he stopped. In a sudden moment of courage Oliver spun around, grabbed the back of Slade's head and smashed their lips together. Slade smiled, leant down, grabbed Oliver by the thighs and pulled him into the air. The younger man broke the kiss while he wrapped his legs around the older man's waist and arms around his neck.

"Care to teach me something new?" Oliver asked; poker face and courage just about to break.

Slade blinked at the man's forwardness then grinned "Been with a man before?"

Oliver's poker face chipped.

Slade smiled "That's okay. I don't want to hurt you," he kissed the Oliver's temple "I can not fuck you," Oliver shivered at those words "even if I want to, no lube. I'll find something we can use as lube," he kissed the shell of Oliver's ear "later," he nipped it "much later. No worries and no over thinking." His words were stern but soft.

Oliver nodded, his hardness getting more so by the second.

"However," Slade slipped his hands to Oliver's behind "I can teach you a thing or too now if you'd like?"

Oliver blushed and nodded.

Slade walked over to his bed, Oliver still held up by his capable hands; once he got there he softly dropped the younger man onto the bed and crawled on top of him. He placed his thigh back onto Oliver's crotch, dragging it back and forth ever so slowly, not even nearly enough to be considered pressure, pure teasing.

"Stop," Oliver groaned.

Slade did, completely.

"No," Oliver whined "stop teasing."

Slade smirked, thrusting his thigh forward. Oliver threw his head back with a moan, seeing this Slade started to kiss his neck. The older man bit down, his smirk widened as Oliver gasped. Oliver's hands slipped under Slade's shirt, his arms hugging the warm flesh, gently brushing past the numerous scars, some from the Island, and others from fights in the past. Slade shivered as each one was touched.

Slade lifted Oliver's shirt to the man's chin and ran his fingers along his chest, pausing at a nipple to rub the nub. Never once did he stop kissing the man's neck. Oliver arched his back to which Slade bit down again, kissing the wound. Another gasp from Oliver which became a full grown moan when Slade left Oliver's neck, travelled down, kissing his chest as he went, and dipped his tongue into the younger man's belly button. The tip of his tongue ever so slowly travelled the rim of the belly button and once again dipped inside.

Oliver was digging his nails into the older man's back at this point, he tried to pull his body closer but the man was too strong to be moved "Your shirt," Oliver panted.

Slade left Oliver's belly to return to his lips; licking them and upon gaining access, diving his tongue inside. His tongue drew patterns on the roof of Oliver's mouth and for a second Oliver wondering if the man was writing Chinese letters. Oliver moaned, trying to arch himself closer to the man. Slade finally understood the message. Not that Oliver didn't love this, he did. To be the one getting all the treatment was amazing, but he wanted to be naked and touching Slade already.

Slade sat back and took off his shirt and scarf – a keffiyeh, the older man had told Oliver just the day before. Thankfully he had not been wearing the protective padding today seeing as the training had been low risk. His body was that of a God, every muscle strong and filled to its limit, perfectly sculpted hills and dips with what looked like soft, naturally tanned skin stretched over the muscle. There were scars; burns, knife wounds and one circular discoloured patch of skin which Oliver thought might be a bullet wound, just next to Slade's hip bone. He wanted to feel that body against him, those hand holding his wrists in place, he wanted to feel the strength, wanted Slade to make him feel that strength oh so badly.

Slade thrust his thigh forward again, Oliver pushed himself down onto it, eyes half shut and biting his lip gently. Slade rubbed his thigh up and down, adding pressure as he went up, making Oliver arch his back and moan softly, and taking pressure as he went down to which Oliver just sighed at as if it were relaxing. Like a skilled hand job, the lack of pressure made the pleasure all the better when the friction returned. "Oh God," Oliver gasped. He managed to remember himself for a few seconds so he could take off his own shirt, never once moving away from Slade's powerful and ever so pleasurable thigh.

Slade eyes and fingers stroked the scars on Oliver's chest; he lent forward and kissed along each and every one, his thigh never stopping it's rhythm. After a few last thrusts with his thigh, all the while watching Oliver moan and pant, Slade pulled his thigh away.

Oliver opened his eyes fully, with a question in his eyes and a lazily cocked brow. Oliver asked with a relaxed but needy tone "Slade?"

Slade placed an elbow at each side of Oliver's head and gave him a soft kiss, lowering his chest onto the younger man's, making sure to keep his weight held up so as not to squish the man.

Oliver's arms tightened around the solid waist and stomach, astonished by the body in front of him. The peak of physical fitness; strong, hard muscles brought the red hot heat of an Australian summer to Oliver's freezing blue skin. The muscles were thick and heavy, Oliver had nowhere near enough power to move the other man, but then again why would he want to?

Oliver licked Slade's lips and when they opened Oliver slipped his tongue inside, his movements as skilled as they could be. He was just so relaxed... No, tired, he was exhausted. They were having the relaxing but very pleasurable kind of foreplay which Oliver was really enjoying but after the work, lack of sleep and food, this was wearing Oliver out.

Oliver was so distracted by Slade and his own tiredness that he did not notice one of Slade's arms move until a hand grabbed Oliver's crotch through his black jeans. Oliver moaned hard into Slade's mouth at the unexpected pleasure, his body involuntarily moving towards the capable hands. Slade unzipped and unbuttoned Oliver, moving inside to cup him through his boxers, never once did he stop kissing the younger man. Oliver broke the kiss, thrusting his hips forwards, begging for friction.

"Slade," he gasped.

Slade slid his hand around to caress the soft flesh of his behind and Oliver tightened his grip, really tightened it, which either meant that he was nervous or...

Slade rolled down Oliver's jeans down the back so his behind was exposed. He squeezed one cheek and Oliver gasped, pushing himself into it. Slade smiled "Interesting." But before Oliver could even think straight for a second to ask why, Slade slapped his rear. Oliver full out moaned. Slade looked at Oliver "Looks like you have an arse fetish." Oliver looked at the man, shivering at the lustful look in those dark pools.

"Okay," Slade started "I'm going to make you cum," he moved his mouth to Oliver's ear and said "and trust me when I say you're gonna like it." he nipped and licked at the lobe, Oliver moaned lightly "But," he continued moving back, "I'm not going to touch you again." Oliver cocked a brow at that, "You are going to cum simply from the feel of my fingers fucking you," Slade said ever so simply "and trust me you will cum." Slade slapped the rear once more. Oliver moaned.

For Oliver this was overwhelming but at the same time it was the sexiest thing he had ever heard and he wanted it, really wanted it. To feel something else beside himself inside of him, to feel Slade inside of him and not only that, but to feel that the things he wanted were just so normal and... that's what they were. Normal. That's how things felt with Slade. Normal. Normal.

Normal. Normal. Normal.

Okay, normal, natural, normal. It was normal and it amazed Oliver how stupid he felt all these years.

Oliver blinked, coming out of his thoughts. Slade looked concerned, wondering if he had pushed things too far. Oliver smiled; he pulled himself up using Slade's sturdy body and sealed their lips together. Slade returned the kiss and smiled into it. After a few seconds Oliver broke the kiss and lowered himself and his arms back onto the bed.

"I would like that," he said simply.

Slade leant forward and kissed Oliver while his hand stroked the man's behind. The kiss became more heated; tongues dancing together. Oliver moved a hand to the back of Slade's head and neck. Oliver had not noticed before when he had grabbed the man's head but his hair was wiry, Oliver liked it. It wasn't what he was used to but he liked it even more, it was more masculine. Ha and if that wasn't just the definition of Slade.

Slade broke the kiss to remove Oliver's shoes, which took a little while, before he moved back to pull down and remove Oliver's jeans and boxers, revealing his long white milk bottle legs covered in fine blonde hairs and of course there was his arousal, clearly living up to its name.

Slade leant forward and palmed Oliver's ever so smooth behind with both hands. Oliver spread his legs, giving Slade room to work. Slade suddenly paused, he had thought of simply using spit as lubricant but he had just been struck with a better idea.

Slade leant forward and kissed Oliver before getting up and walking towards the supplies. After a few seconds of searching he found it, and hid the clear jar. He returned to Oliver who sat there, legs together and pulled to his chest, using his crossed arms to cover himself. He looked sheepish and a little annoyed, eyes brows twitching lightly as if he had been, in his words, "cock blocked" again. Slade grinned back and before the younger man could think Slade was back on the bed and pushing Oliver back onto his back; his legs were still held to his chest so Slade moved them onto his shoulders which in turn spread them. The position made Oliver blush lightly, laying like this with his legs on Slade's shoulders with said man's covered crotch a mere inch away from Oliver's hole. Oliver's body was really heating up and for once in his life he was thankful for the drafts let in by the massive holes in the plane.

Slade pulled back from the kiss, still keeping their position and said "I got you something." He grinned when he saw the darkened patch on Oliver's bottom lip from where he had bitten him back at forest, and made a made a mental note to himself to work on the marks on Oliver's neck further. "Slade slid the jar behind his back, he didn't want to give away what he was going to do. "Ready?" he asked, placing Oliver's legs back onto the bed. As fun as it would have been Slade would just have to test Oliver's flexibility later.

Oliver wanted to ask what Slade had got him, but right now all he really wanted was to have Slade's fingers inside of him and asking would take up time. He nodded.

Slade kissed Oliver oh so softly, palming his behind with his large hands, massaging and squeezing gently and after a while Oliver was well and truly relaxed and very turned on from all the attention his rear was receiving. The feeling of relaxation and arousal contradicted each other somewhat, but Slade's touch seemed to make the whole thing feel like a wonderful lazy pleasure.

Slade moved one hand away to grab the clear jar which was filled with thick yellow liquid, honey; a natural antibacterial agent, a good lubricant and it tasted wonderful which would make what Slade was planning to do even better. Thankfully he had the sense to unscrew the lid before he got back to the bed, making for less fumbling later.

Slade moved to kiss and lick at Oliver's neck, the younger man wrapped one arm around the older man's neck and the other held the man's head, asking for more. Slade grinned into the man's neck and Oliver resisted the urge to smack him for that.

Slade flicked the lid off; it landed on the bedding making no sound, or at least no noticeable sound. Slade dipped two fingers into the thick liquid, he ran one finger up his Oliver's leg so he knew what was coming, all the while kissing and biting at Oliver's neck. The younger man pulled his head closer gasping and moaning lightly. Reaching Oliver's rear Slade stroked the rim lightly with his finger before slowly pushing his finger in, to the first knuckle. Oliver gladly welcomed him and Slade ever so slowly eased his whole finger inside.

It felt amazing; the thick lubricant Oliver could feel rolling side on himself and Slade's larger fingers were just indescribably pleasurable and he did not want to describe it, he just wanted more. "Slade," he moaned, "more." He gasped as Slade crooked his finger; his next moan was swallowed by Slade mouth. Slade kissed him as his finger moved, thrusting in and out of out of Oliver, making Oliver moan every time he was re-entered. Slade would stop once or twice to crook his finger and massage the internal wall, which Oliver bucked his hips at, before he returned to the thrusting motion, Oliver meeting each and every thrust. Slade made sure to stay away from where that certain little bundle of nerves could be found, not wanting Oliver to come any time soon.

"More, more," Oliver begged into Slade's mouth, only then did Slade in fact give him more.

Slade rubbed the rim with his second finger as the first slowed down its movement and after a bit of teasing he slipped both fingers in on the next thrust. Oliver broke the kiss moaning hard.

"God, oh God," he whined, he was so close.

Slade smiled, "Hold on Oliver," he slowed his movements to a near stop to which Oliver groaned. "I have something I have yet to give you."

"Okay, Okay!" Oliver groaned "Just don't stop." He hoped Slade would just give him whatever it was because he was not going to hold on much longer.

Slade leaned back and continued to thrust his fingers into younger man a few more times, very much enjoying the view of Oliver accepting the his fingers so enthusiastically, honey resting on his yogurt white skin. His eyes closed, panting quickly, and with each intake Slade could see the curve from his ribs to his waist. His hands were clinging desperately to the make shift bedding, penis red and erect and body always seeming to want more but Slade wanting to drag this out so no sex today, even if Slade was very much aware of his own erection pressing against his cargo pants, which was very uncomfortable.

Slade deemed Oliver as ready and pulled out, giving him a few seconds to cool. Oliver looked at Slade, eyes half lidded; he looked so confused. Slade smiled. He gave Oliver's lips a chaste kiss, then his Adam's apple to which Oliver's swallowed at the feeling, then kissed his chest where Oliver's ribs joined together, then his belly, his belly button, flicking his tongue inside, and moving right past Oliver's erection, which had the younger man groaning. "Don't worry you'll like this," he assured. Slade smiled as he reached his mark, he leant forward and kissed Oliver's honey covered rim. Oliver gasped.

Slade pulled back, licking his lips "Get on to your hands and knees." Oliver complied without a second thought. Slade dipped a finger into the honey and stuck it into Oliver's hole, a little more couldn't hurt. Oliver moaned as the finger stretched his rim. Now they could begin.

Slade pulled the cheeks apart, kneading the flesh in his hands. He looked down at the hole and blew a soft but warm breath over the entrance. Oliver gasped and moaned, moving his behind further back towards the heat. Slade held the younger man in place and continued to blow until he saw a bead of honey slowly rolling down Oliver's leg. Slade ran his tongue over that stray drop of honey and followed its previous path all the way to Oliver's hole where he lay his tongue flat over the rim before blowing at it once more.

Slade licked, flicked and rubbed the hole with his tongue, all the while Oliver moaned, whined and gasped like he was a bitch in heat. Slade then used the tip of his tongue to trace the rim twice before stiffening the tongue and penetrating the honey filled hole. Slade groaned at the way the rim tightened initially before relaxing. Slade kept his tongue stiff and started a good thrusting rhythm, now and again removing his tongue and teasing the rim.

Oliver was a wreck; the front half of his body was lying on the bed, only barely able to keep his rear up for Slade, and he was making all sorts of sounds and half words that neither Slade nor Oliver himself knew what they were. But they both knew one thing, and that was that Oliver was close.

Slade took away one of his hands, after all, the guy wanted to cum too. Unzipping and slipping his hand into his cargo pants, he grabbed himself and started pumping in time with his tongue's thrusts, running his thumb over his slit as a reward for every time he got Oliver to whine and beg.

Now was the time. Slade was sure that prostate was probably too far to reach and trying to would put strain on his tongue, so he removed his tongue and kissed the rim one last time before pushing two fingers straight inside, all the while still jerking himself off. Oliver moaned hard, gripping the bedding. After a few thrusts, to which Oliver moaned all the way, Slade hit that bundle of nerves and Oliver had just enough time to turn his arms into a makeshift pillow before he let out the world's loudest moan.

Oliver came first after a few more hits to his prostate, thankfully having the sense left to hold the head of his penis in his hand to stop the mess from going all over Slade's so called bed. Slade felt the rim tightening and relaxing quickly and came a few jerks later in his hand.

Oliver had passed out on Slade's bed, honey still dripping from his behind and spunk still in his hand - which was thankfully not spilling over - but other than that he was gorgeous. Just as he was he was perfect. Even if he might not able to fully protect himself, he would be in time.

Slade looked out one of the planes windows, it was still bright, although not for much longer. Slade sighed, not wanting to, but he had to make the kid wake up.


	4. Warmth

- Starling city -

"Ollie?"

Oliver squeezed his eyes shut, then blinked a few times to rid the dull ache before looking at his sister. "Yeah, sorry," he said "lost in thought," he continued, turning to the brown bottle of beer and taking a swig.

Thea softened her tone. "About?" she raised a brow.

"It's nothing," Oliver shook his head, "just this and that, you know."

"Then why do you look so sad?" her tone stayed soft, which surprised Oliver, he must have looked miserable.

"It's nothing, just..." What was he supposed to say? There was nothing he could tell her about Slade without telling her the whole story and did he want her to know he was gay? Oliver was gay, yada yada yada, met this man Slade, yada yada yada, fell in love with him and now... Leaving out the missing pieces of information about everything Islandy made the story confusing when it came to the end. Telling her Slade died meant pity, saying Slade's visa ran out meant questions of why Oliver did not use his money and power as a Queen to keep him here. Saying that Slade was in the army and on tour at the moment was a good cover, but then he wouldn't come back and there would be even more questions. Oliver looked back at Thea, she looked sad. Oliver had been good at hiding everything, or at least enough to not raise any serious questions, but just a moment of thinking of Slade and it was clear as day that he was not okay.

It had been four months since he had got back home, which made ten months without Slade, and Oliver knew he'd never see him again. He'd fallen for Slade years ago but he didn't want to be with him, let alone says those words until the fear of the whole "we could die here" thing was over. Now it was and so were Oliver and Slade. He should have seen it coming, really. They pleased each other physically and they were friends, partners, but once the thing that brought and forced them together was gone, that was that. They were each other's way to cope, nothing else.

Had they first met each other in this city, would it have been different? Yes, back then Oliver was a spoilt manwhore, even Oliver could see that. The two would have never got along. Oliver would not have liked the whole meeting in a cafe beginning anyway; the Island gave them a bond, trust and made Oliver into a stronger person. A person whom Slade, having just met, may have liked. This Oliver was a warrior and he knew that he liked who he had become, even if it meant keeping secrets about his beginning.

Oliver looked to his side and made sure no one was nearby; the club had just opened, it was nowhere near full but there were a load of people inside and a queue outside. This was a popular place after all.

Oliver Looked back to Thea, before quickly looking away, blurting out "I'm gay."

- Lian Yu -

"What are you doing?" The gruff voice of the Australian made Oliver jump. Oliver was sitting on the grass next to the plane, before Slade had made him jump he had been looking out to the forest, eyes squinted as if concentrating on something.

"You made me lose count," Oliver complained, although there was a smile on his face seeing as Slade had returned from where he had been setting up the animal traps for the night.

Slade cocked a brow, now he was confused. "What?" Slade made his way over to Oliver, sitting behind the man, resting his back on the metal. "What are you looking at?" Slade squinted, but saw nothing.

Oliver's eyes followed Slade, pushed himself back so that he sat in-between Slade's legs, his own legs pulled up to his chest. He rested his back on the man's padded chest to which said man's arms locked around Oliver waist. Even if there were clothes, gloves and padding in the way, Oliver felt close to Slade, whose body was warm due to the all the hiking he had done.

"So," Slade's warm breath on Oliver's ear made the younger man shiver "What were you counting?"

"Cricket chirps," Oliver said simply, hiding his cold hands under Slade's arms

Slade nodded. "Any reason for that?"

Oliver smiled, enjoying the relaxing conversation. Yao Fei's daughter Shado was staying with them now, and that meant less time for Slade and Oliver to be close like this. They still slept next to each other but there was nothing else they could do while she was there except lightly knock boots when they were eating. Slade did not trust her enough to leave her at the plane while they went on hunts, so she had to come with them. She was a nice person though, a good fighter, she knew more about Fyers then the two of them put together and she was teaching Oliver how to become an archer. She had just started teaching him to make his own arrows. It was apparently really important that he made his own, something about knowing how every little thing worked or something like that. As Slade could see from the broken attempts on the floor, it was still very much a work in progress.

"I heard it on a documentary once," Oliver said flexing and straightening his fingers to warm them up. Feeling this Slade took off his gloves and, knowing that the younger man would not take them, he brought Oliver's hands together so one was on top of the other and placed them on the man's lap, covering them with his own hands. Oliver paused looking at the difference in size and colour and smiled slightly, turning his hands over to hold Slade's hands. The older man took a hand in each of his and weaved their fingers together. Oliver's smile grew.

"This documentary?" Slade asked, rubbing the muscle along the side of Oliver's hand with his thumb.

"It was about survival in the wilderness," Oliver grinned, "As if I'd ever need that."

Slade chuckled lightly.

"It said that snowy tree crickets' chirps can tell you the temperature," Oliver continued

Slade raised a brow, although Oliver couldn't see it.

Oliver thought for a second, then he said, "They synchronize their chirps, so you count the number of chirps for 13 seconds and add 40. That'll give you the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit," Oliver turned his head to look at Slade, "give or take a degree."

Slade nodded, he'd never heard of such a thing. "Interesting," he said, leaning down to kiss Oliver, who smiled into it and returned the kiss.

Oliver turned his body and moved to sit on Slade's lap. Slade grinned, he oh so badly wanted to bite the younger man's neck, slip his hands down his front to grab his crotch and down the back to tease the his rim, listening and watching as the man moaned and begged - but Slade knew he could not. As soon as Slade knew that they were safe again, with or without Shado, he would fuck Oliver until they both passed out.

Slade pulled Oliver closer by his thighs. Their mouths were hungry, their kisses passionate.

- Starling city -

"Oh."

Oliver cocked a brow, "Oh?" he looked back to his sister.

She had her brows drawn together in thought, looking down towards the table but not really looking at anything. "It's just that..." she thought for a second before saying "You dated a lot," she smiled "but around the time of dates you always looked kind of sad and I never understood why. But..." Thea looked at Oliver "I guess it was hard to be with people you felt nothing for," her smile widened "Thank you for telling me."

Oliver smiled back.

"So," she tilted her head to the side, "what kind of guys do you like?"

Oliver out right laughed, he calmed down and then said "Oh, Thea," he chuckled "I don't know..." a smile crept on to his lips "Older," he started.

Thea nodded, wanting to know more.

Oliver looked at his hand on the table, remembering the times their hands had joined together. "Tanned," his smile grew bigger, "dark hair and eyes. A guy who's no pushover." Nowhere even close to a pushover Oliver thought, wanting to laugh. "Personality is more important, I guess," Oliver said, thinking about all the things Slade used to do; the way he grinned in pride and raised his voice in excitement, sounding happy every time Oliver did something that both helped them and showed that Oliver was cut out for this. The way he loved to tease Oliver, grinning when he succeeded and smiling when failed, because that had meant that Oliver had been the one to beat him, that he was getting smarter, faster and stronger. The way he held Oliver close to him, weaved their fingers together and how when they sat next to each, he would place a boot covered foot on each side of one of Oliver's, holding it gently, wanting to keep a hold of Oliver even when Shado and Yao Fei were there. Slade trusted him, treated him like an adult who could look after himself, but at the same time protected him.

"You met someone."

Oliver looked back at his sister to see her smiling, her eyes full of happiness. "What makes you say that?" he asked.

"Your face," she said, full of excitement, "Whoever he is, I like him if he makes you this happy."

Oliver's smile fell. Thea would never meet Slade in Starling city, and neither would Oliver, Slade was gone. Far away with no reason to ever come to this city. Some nights, when Oliver allowed himself to think about the older man, Oliver wished that he could see him for just more hour; run his fingers through the man's wiry hair, hold his face in his hands and kiss him, have sex with the man for one last time - but would a goodbye, a final night, have made any of this easier? Most likely not.

"On the other hand, I don't like him," Thea said, sounding sad.

Oliver blinked a few times, realising he had been lost in thought "No," Oliver said, a light smile on his face, "He's a nice guy," he looked his beer, not wanting to take a swig because that would not help his point. "He showed me that it was okay to be...me," he said, in case of eavesdroppers, "It just ended." Oliver did not want to say anymore, he looked at the floor sadly. After taking a second to recover himself, Oliver looked at one of the lists.

"Ollie?" Thea asked, with an expression Oliver knew would be sadness without even having to look at her.

"I don't really want to talk about it," he said simply, never taking his eyes off the list.

Thea took the other list, thinking that her brother just needed time.

The twosome looked back and forth from the lists for a good few minutes before Oliver saw it. He had no idea why he was there, but he knew that name.

Slade Wilson

Oliver stared at that name, eyes never blinking, time almost seeming to stop. Oliver could hear his heart beat over the music. Then an idea came to him. "No," he whispered, not heard over the music.

"Is there a Slade Wilson on your list?" he asked, never taking his eyes from the name.

"Slade Wilson..." she looked over the list, spotting the name after a while, "Yes, right here!" she pointed at the name. She turned to see Oliver staring at his list. "Ollie?"

"He's Australian."

"Uh...what?" she cocked a brow. How did Oliver get that from a name unless...

"He's from Australia, not New Zealand," His voice sounded dull, Oliver simply did not know what to think.

"You know him," Thea said, eyes huge.

Oliver nodded. What was he doing here? He was waiting for someone, a woman. Oliver felt an ache in his chest and his belly hurt. Slade had left him.

Oliver stood and left the table. He needed to get out of here

"Wha-" Thea ran after her brother. "Ollie wait," she called, "Wait!" she called again, but he ignored her. She grabbed her brother's wrist and pulled him back, he stopped. "Ollie?" she said, sounding worried.

Oliver could not deal with this; he could barely cope with Slade being gone, with the idea of moving on and the fact that Slade did not feel the love Oliver felt for the older man, but to have it all rubbed in his face? No. No, no, no, no! He was getting far away from here, he would just hide away for a while and not think about the Island, the death and the fact that the person who had kept him alive through all of it was a fucking asshole who left him and came back not even for Oliver but some whore who-

"There he is," Thea said.

Oliver froze and slowly turned to look at the crowd. There was Slade Wilson making his way to the bar. From the waist down he looked pretty much the same, wearing leather lace-up boots over grey cargo pants, although they were more baggy than the ones he wore on the Island and there was no knife holster on his calf for the six inch blade, nor did he have on his belt with its gun holster and multiple pouches for herbs, back up ammo and anything else useful he could fit in there. He was wearing what looked like to be a simple black shirt covered by a leather jacket, which Oliver was not surprised by. Slade had told Oliver that he had always like the practical and potentially useful, leather was good for keeping warm, reducing bodily harm and it was easily cleaned. Cargo pants for...well cargo, some place useful to keep things; if Slade did have a knife or two somewhere that's where they'd likely be. That or a makeshift pocket in the Jacket, which was just as likely if not more. Slade was Slade. Even if he was not wearing his protective padding or the katana sword on his back.

Slade was here, at the club and Oliver had no idea what to do.

Thea smiled. "Slade!" she yelled so the man could hear.

Slade stiffened, but turned to look around where the voice had come from. It was high up, to the right. Looking there Slade saw a teenage girl looking at him, holding the wrist of a man who looked like he wanted to leave. The man was tall, blonde, and was looking at him too. He...

"Oliver?" Slade mumbled, eyes wide in shock. He smiled.

Oliver did not even think for a second, he made his way down the stairs, Thea letting go of his wrist as he went, a smile Oliver could not see plastered on her face. Oliver made his way to the bottom of the stairs and saw that Slade was making his way towards him. The man was only a few steps away so Oliver stood and let Slade come to him. Then there they were, Oliver and Slade face to face, no fear of death, no Island, just them.

"It's good to see you again," Slade said in that rough voice of his.

Oliver placed a hand on the back of Slade's neck, pulled him forward and kissed him. God to feel Slade close to him again was amazing, to kiss him again was wonderful and Oliver's heart melted when the man kissed him back. The warmth of his body, the touch of his soft lips, just having Slade again was almost too much, Oliver could not, did not, even think about losing it all again.

Slade broke the kiss. "I missed you too," he kissed Oliver's forehead "We should talk."

Oliver was worried but nodded; he followed Slade out the building. Turning his head back he saw his sister giving him the thumbs up. Oliver did not know what to think, he would just have to see what happened. Thankfully, no one minus Thea looked like they had seen them kissing, if this all went badly Oliver did not want to be reminded of it.

The night had just started but the breeze was blowing cold air on his face, hands and down his neck. The cold was something Oliver had grown used to on the Island, the only times he had been warm was when he was with Slade. That, and training and fighting, but the first was a much nicer warmth. Oliver missed the warmth of another person against his skin, the warmth of their breath, their lips on his lips or on his skin. That unbelievable warm pressure of having someone inside of him, stretching him, filling him in ways he never knew he needed and the warm liquid that rolled inside of him, a mixture of honey and semen. Oliver missed all of it.

The two men walked side by side, neither saying anything. After a while Slade spoke up. "I'm sorry I could not have seen you sooner. We had to make sure this whole thing was over, turns out there were a lot of people involved and getting them was a bitch. Weren't even allowed to send rescue for you for another year just in case, but..."

"You did anyway," Oliver smiled, looking at Slade

"I could never leave you behind," he looked at Oliver, his near black orbs showing concern, "don't forget that."

Oliver nodded, but had to ask. "Why are you here?" he said, before he could stop himself.

Slade stopped, Oliver did as well. The corners of Slade's lips pulled down lightly. "I'm sorry," he stepped forward and held Oliver's face with his hands. "I'm sorry I left you behind," he said, sounding vulnerable which was beyond unnatural. He stroked his thumb over Oliver's jawbone, and the younger man closed his eyes, just letting himself enjoy the feeling. "Had I known, I would have stayed with you," Slade continued, resting their foreheads together.

Oliver was shocked. Slade had come back for him. He smiled. "I missed you so much," he opened his eyes, light green meeting dark brown.

Slade pulled Oliver's head forward and kissed him. Oliver smiled, grabbing the older man's shoulders to pull him closer.

After a while the two pulled back from the kiss, still staying close, "Hey gorgeous," Slade said, smile on his face, happy to finally have Oliver back. "Now that we're off the Island, how about I take you to dinner?"

Oliver looked at him, eyebrows raised. He took a second but then he smiled, looking at Slade's chest "Yeah," he said sounding a bit sheepish, "I'd like that," Oliver placed his head on Slade's chest, enjoying the warmth. Slade wrapped his arms around Oliver's body, pulling him closer.


	5. Blame It On The Wine

Slade and Oliver strolled down the street, standing so close together their bodies were touching, Slade's hand on Oliver's lower back, being protective as ever. This had confused Oliver for a second; Oliver could handle himself fine, his body is a weapon and they're not on the Island anymore. So why protect him? The answer, Oliver guessed was likely a mixture of old habits die hard, the unfamiliar and people-filled surroundings, and of course Slade's love of holding onto Oliver which would have been present even if they had not spent months apart. Although Slade was more the kind to wrap a whole arm around him and Oliver could tell the older man still wanted to.

Was Slade worried about being gay in public? No, Oliver didn't think so. Slade was the kind of guy who would walk down the streets proudly carrying Oliver like a husband carrying his bride over the threshold, face plastered with the biggest grin,like Oliver was some sort of prize.

Was Slade worried about being vulnerable both out in the open and in a place he didn't know? No, Slade was by no means an easy target and if anyone did by chance think so, they were they in for a big surprise. Oliver had seen the man fight many time, his attacks were professional; quick and precise hits, kicks, or far more likely slices and stabs. Killing each and every one of his enemies before they could even think of fighting back, with the fights only shortening when his enemies were in large numbers, spread out and wielding guns. It was damn impressive to see a group of men with clearly intimidating large automatic assault rifles all taken down by one man and his mixture of kunai throwing knives and jagged daggers, using only the trees to protect and conceal himself. Slade only ever used one of his katana swords (both of which he kept strapped to his back, just in case) to kill small, close together groups where he had the element of surprise. The fights never lasted long, especially when a katana was involved.

Oliver knew that he should be fucking terrified of Slade's power and ability but he was not, calmed first by the need to survive and then by trust. Oliver felt more protected, if anything. The younger man was glad that neither Slade nor himself enjoyed or could take watching the other kill, even if they had to ignore the fact that these were people. They were both still human, which was beyond lucky considering.

Being in a city meant a constant flow of people, cars, taxis, motorbikes and an occasional limousine, even at night. This was Friday night around the 'everyone to the night club!' rush hour, filling the roads with taxis and the foot paths with rowdy party goers and men and women desperately in need of alcohol after a stress filled week, trading their uniforms for body fitting dresses, skirts, shirts and jeans.

Oliver, having lived here all his life - minus five years - knew how to get around easily, especially through the areas he travelled most, like the one he was in now. Finding a place to eat would be no problem.

Oliver remembered how in the years before the Island, he would get lost or go the wrong way now and again. He made it a game to never use the maps dotted about the city to see if he could find his way and he did, giving himself a mental high five. He wasn't going to be late for anything anyway, he was young and free. The Island had aged both his mind and body, made him stronger. Had he not had the book of the people who were poisoning his city - gripping it tight with their greedy fat fingers and melting away the money and the people's spirits like acid on plastic, breaking all the rules and using the law in their favour, so that the so called protectors of this city could not stop them -Oliver would most likely have followed Slade's line of work. Contract killer or not,Slade was protecting people, destroying the evil of this world and getting to use his body for what it was built to do. He could fight and kill for those who could not and save hundreds, thousands even, like they had done by exposing the Island.

"Oliver," a soft deep voice said into Oliver's ear, the warm breath sending a shiver down the younger man's spine. Much like Slade talking Russian or Mandarin with an Australian accent, sounding very odd but somehow lyrical and oh so sexually demanding even if he was talking about plans to stalk mercenaries while readying his weaponry, which really should have been wrong. Speaking softly made Slade's voice lose a little of its coarse nature, but somehow it remained just as demanding, making Oliver feel like he should just fall onto his back right there in the middle of the street and let Slade fuck him. The voice was arousing, but soothing and the use of his name only made him calm further. It always had; when giving Oliver commands the use of his name kept his head on straight, stopped him from panicking. When they were alone the use of his name made the younger man happy, to have the person he cared for so deeply say his name in that wonderful rough voice of his, that sounded so husky and demanding as they had sex, Oliver feeling the grin on Slade's full lips as he teased the younger man's rim with kisses.

Slade moved his hand from Oliver's lower back to shoulder and squeezed gently, cocking a brow at the younger man."Something wrong?"

"No," Oliver said, but after a moment's thought he continued, "Just surprised that you're not clinging to me like an octopus," Oliver smiled lightly.

Slade smirked, chuckling softly. "Trust me I would constantly have my hands on your arse but..." he looked out to the city,"You'd get a lot of unwanted attention."

That was Slade. He would never guilt trip a person, if he wanted to say something he just did, regardless of how people would react. Oliver smiled.

Still walking with the older man, Oliver took the hand from his shoulder and wrapped it around his hip to rest the base of the palm on his hip bone, fingers resting on Oliver's rear. Oliver was annoyed that he was not wearing something with pockets on his behind where he could have placed Slade's hand, but this worked well. He smiled at Slade. "I don't care," he said, leaning into Slade's chest with his head resting on Slade's shoulder.

Slade stiffened but then relaxed and smiled also, squeezing the cheek lightly before moving his hand to Oliver's waist and pulling him closer.

Oliver's smile grew wider. "Your important to me, you're..." Oliver was not sure on the last words, he knitted his brow. Mine?

Slade kissed the top of Oliver's head. "I'm your boyfriend," he said into the dirty blonde hair,"I'm yours," he smiled.

Oliver was truly happy, the kind that made him want to jump for joy and tell the world all about Slade. Slade was Oliver's boyfriend. Oliver's boyfriend! Oliver looked forward to the day he could introduce him as such. For now he leaned closer into his boyfriend and said "Yeah, you're mine," feeling almost giddy.

Oliver knew there were so many things he should be worrying about; the book, the other archer, about his mother's possible ties in the sinking of the Queen's Gambit, and the fact that by tomorrow the world could know that Oliver Queen was gay, with a man 14 years older than Oliver - even if that man was unbelievably sexy. But Oliver could not even make himself care; he wanted to be selfish at least for tonight.

The twosome walked down the streets leaning into each other, Slade's arm still around Oliver's waist. Oliver knew they got a few looks,if only because they were both clearly guys,but neither of them could care less. It's not like any one could ever have a go at them. They were two very strong looking guys who could easily defeat any random group of homophobes without even needing the other's help,and together the two were unstoppable in a fight.

After a while Slade directed them towards an Italian restaurant. Outside it almost looked small, with brickwork walls, medium sized windows with dark wooden frames that allowed bright golden rays of lights to shine through, and potted conifers that stood tall and bushy, the April showers having made the plants a shade of dark green. Overall the place was attractive, an ideal place for a first date.

Inside the walls were white but the lights were covered with yellow shades giving the walls a cream colour. The entrance and what looked to be the bathroom doors were made of dark wood, likely the same kind as on the windows, as was the sign in desk. The kitchen doors however were white plastic, turned cream by the lighting. Pictures sparsely covered the walls; horses grazing in a field, peaceful lakes, healthy plants blooming and one of a sunset at a dock. The sky turned golden by the light of the receding burning star, the waters almost cream from the refection, and the wooden dock, darkened by the lack of light, made a perfect barrier between the sky and it mirrored image. The sky and sea were so alike but different, each with a star, but the waves made its star lightly misshapen, almost like the spirit world looking back to the real world. One world so strong, alive and real, the other nothing but an illusion.

After a few minutes, during which the two men stood chatting about what they had done since the Island, they were given a table. It was a simple two person table next to a wall, it meant their knees would touch when they sat down but neither man minded. Their table, like all the tables, was made of a strong bronze coloured wood, covered with a crisp white sheet ending half way down the table legs. Each table had chairs made of the same wood with cream padded seats, a pair of glass salt and pepper shakers, a tan folded napkin fan in front of each seat and a vibrant red tulip in a thin glass vase in the middle of the table. The leaves were spread out as if they were encouraging the flower to bloom but the petals stayed closely shut.

Both men were giving a large complimentary glass of water and menus and a few minutes later the waiter came back for their drink and food orders. They decided upon a bottle of red wine to share, both liking the drink and it usually when well with all meals. Oliver had slices of steak; medium rare mixed with mushrooms, lettuce, red onion, bell pepper, cucumber, tomato and lightly drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Slade had linguine pasta with king prawns and thin slices of chorizo in a hot chilli and tomato sauce.

"Prawns?" Oliver asked as the waiter left.

The seating in the restaurant was somewhat close which unnerved Oliver, thinking that people would listen into his conversation especially considering this was a date but the two men had, along with Yao Fei and Shado, learnt to look out for and signal what they could not say via use of hinting with replacement words, head tilts, glares and light hand gestures. If worst came to worst they could just speak a different language, it would draw more attention but no one would know what they were saying.

"I love sea food," Slade said simply, "Prawns, mussels, crab..." he held out a hand and tiled it side to side to mimic a seesaw, "Not too sure," he made a face mixed between a grimace and interest."Mussels are the best as long as the meat does not rip open when you take it from the shell," he smiled lightly, "not very appealing when you look inside."

Oliver smiled, holding his foot to Slade's, missing the contact. Slade however held out a hand, palm up on the table for Oliver to take at which the younger man paused for a second, but then his worry left him. Oliver laid his hand in Slade's, smiling as the older man's larger and darker hand curled around his, engulfing his hand in its warmth.

The conversation was simple, easy, smiles and grins pulling at their lips as they spoke of their times together on Lian Yu and what they had done for the time they were apart. They kept their hands joined; Oliver's thumb ran over Slade's palm and wrist making the older man twitch at the feather light touch that swept over the sensitive skin. Oliver laughed lightly, then Slade pulled his hand away before moving it back to its place, trapping Oliver's thumb with his. With the rest of the younger man's fingers intertwined with Slade's, Oliver was unable to torture his boyfriend any further.

Too much happiness (and probably some of the red wine he had drunk) turns Oliver giddy it seems because right now he was feeling borderline silly. He looked down at his trapped hand before looking Slade in his dark eyes, trying to make a begging puppy dog face complete with pout.

Slade just looked at him, eyebrow raised with a not amused look on his face but after a few seconds a smile tugged at his lips, he chuckled lightly, shoulders jolting slightly. "You are just adorable," he said, using his spare hand to cup Oliver's cheek. Not once did Oliver stop making the face he had created.

Their food arrived, the waitress had looked a little startled by the affection between the two men but then she smiled;a real smile, before continuing with her job. Oliver had been seen. He'd been seen before by people on the street with what was clearly his boyfriend but he did not see their reactions. This was the first time a stranger had seen Oliver with another man, not Thea or Yao Fei and Shado all of whom were his family, by blood or not. A stranger knew Oliver was gay, she may not have known who Oliver was but she knew this man in front of her was gay. Oliver was out of the closet. Oliver smiled at her, thankful for the happiness she had given him. No, the happiness Slade had given him.

After the woman left Oliver got up saying he was just going to use the toilet (which he did need a bit) but really it was for one thing. As he got up to go, he moved to stand next to Slade, tilted the older man's chin up and kissed him for all the world to see. Pulling back, Oliver smiled. "Thank you."

Slade may have thought it was for the date but Oliver hoped that the older man understood it was for everything he had done. For treating his body like it was Slade's most precious treasure, helping him to survive, to cope, to accept who he was, and for making Oliver fall in love with him. Oliver had a feeling that under the years of military training and emotional repression there was love for Oliver too.

After dinner the twosome had drank the rest of the red wine, ordered another bottle and were drinking that, chatting away when Oliver's phone vibrated in his pocket.

"Work I take it?" Slade asked before taking a sip of his glass of red wine, which granted, was small,but looked to be about the size of a children's toy tea cup his large tanned hand.

"Hn?" Oliver looked at the phone to see the caller ID.

Diggle

Oliver looked back at Slade, at which the older man put his wine glass down, then using both hands; thumbs, index and middle fingers crocked, he mimed flipping a hood on. This stunned Oliver.

Slade further indicated his knowledge by holding one hand out, fingers curled like he was holding a pole, the other hand a couple of inches behind it but to the side so Oliver could see, crocking his index, middle and ring fingers then pulling said hand back slowly like Oliver would when he pulled back the wire of his bow.

That's just what it was. Slade knew.

Slade dropped his hands. "It's not a big deal Oliver," the words and the use of his name calmed Oliver. "I just figured it was not something we could really talk about here," Slade smiled lightly. "Take your call."

Oliver smiled back before getting out of his seat. "One minute," he said.

Slade nodded.

Oliver quickly walked outside the Italian restaurant. The night air hit him, with only the wine to numb his senses seeing as how he had left his suit coat on the bad of his seat. Oliver ducked into the alleyway, answering his phone. "Yeah?" he said,slightly annoyed.

"Uh...hey," Diggle said, sounding a little confused and worried, "It's Diggle, Felicity is here too."

"Hey," A female voice said.

"Yes?" Oliver said, getting more aggravated.

"Well, we're kind of wondering where you are," Felicity said, just as confused."The guy you were after, you know on the list?"

Oliver started to pace, waiting for them to get to the point.

"Well he's getting back earlier than expected from his business trip," Diggle continued.

"When?" Oliver asked.

"Tomorrow morning."

"Okay," Oliver said then he sighed. "There's something I've got to tell you two," Oliver took a deep breath.

"Oliver?" Felicity sounded worried.

Oliver exhaled. "Don't worry, it's okay," he smiled, "It's fucking great."

There was silence on the other end of the phone, shock from how happy Oliver sounded. He had never sounded that happy before, excited almost.

"A friend of mind has come to Starling City. The love of my life actually," Oliver's smile grew; it felt so good to say that. "We're on a date right now, so you'll meet them tomorrow night, when we go after Luke Morgan," he paused, forcing himself to say,"We'll most likely have an extra member on our team that night."

"Wha- Oliver just," Diggle stumbled over his words,"You can't just believe your girlfriend will just accept this..." he paused,"This. And then join."

Oliver laughed, "Trust me, Digg. My date taught me how to become a fighter, everything minus the bow," he sighed, knowing he would a lot of explaining to do."We were on the Island together."

A pause.

"Oh," Felicity said. "That's romantic."

Oliver laughed. "Nowhere even close," he said. "I'll explain everything tomorrow, it's about time I told you two about what happened," he pulled the phone back, about to shut it when he remembered,"Don't tell Tommy, I want to talk to him myself," he snapped the phone shut to stop any arguments.

Oliver went back inside the restaurant and took his seat. He would not be surprised, in fact he would not put it past them to find out where he was, but the restaurant had no cameras so they were not going to know who his date was until Oliver told them. Diggle could try to get the information out of Thea, Oliver had spent the night with his sister after all, but Thea would not tell him anything, Oliver was confident of that. Thea loved Oliver very much and would never push him into anything he did not want... minus the whole calling Slade over.

"Nice chat?" Slade asked in his usual rough voice, proceeding to pour wine into his glass before holding the bottle to Oliver's, when he received a nod he poured.

"Not bad," Oliver said, taking the wine, "I have three people who know what I do."

Slade just looked at him.

"The first," Oliver explained, "Is my bodyguard."

Slade chuckled, grinning. "Bodyguard?" he cocked a brow then took a sip of his wine.

"Yeah," Oliver said, "Mum made me use one, wrong place for the story why."

Slade nodded.

"I told him because I was stuck with him twenty-four seven and he seemed like the kind of person who could understand and he did..." Oliver looked away,"In the end," he took a sip of his wine.

"Number two?" Slade asked, seeming satisfied with the answer. He took a sip.

This was beginning to feel like a drinking game; Slade asked a question, takes a sip, Oliver answers said question, takes a sip. "Felicity, IT expert for my family's company. She's the best at what she does. Helped me a few times with tracking, discreetly, although my lying skills have never been that good," Slade smiled. "I went to her after I got injured," he pointed to Slade's right arm, where Oliver had removed a bullet all those years ago. "She joined after she got me to Diggle for treatment."

"Bad?" Slade asked, worry in his eyes. Had he been there at the time his eyes would have been void of all emotion. You can't become emotional when it comes to survival.

"Yes," Oliver took a sip of wine. "Remind me to tell you about that later," he had to be honest.

"Number three?" Slade downed the rest of his wine, he did not like hearing about his Oliver being hurt. All he could do now was make the future safer for Oliver and kill the fucker who shot him, if he wasn't already dead. The look on Oliver's face said the man was not,but there was something else there, something for when they could talk freely.

"My best friend, Tommy," Oliver frowned slightly, not liking the amount Slade had drank. "His father was," he pointed at Slade's right arm, "he wouldn't let me help and I needed his help to save his father so I had to show him it was me," Oliver took a sip of his wine, the wine was making him a little tipsy but he could handle it.

"Okay," Slade said simply, before smiling and reaching a hand to cup Oliver's check once again. "What do you say to us getting out of here?" Slade said in Mandarin, "I have a feeling you'll like me fucking you into a mattress for a change," Slade smirked.

Oliver shivered but smirked back, "Just fuck?" Oliver asked.

Slade smirk grew, "Not even close."

"What are you going to do to me?" Oliver cocked a brow. Was it wrong that he was really enjoying the idea that people could hear them, not understand them,but still?

"First," Slade said, "I'm going to slowly explore every little bit of you with my mouth, trust me there will be a lot of marks," Slade stroked Oliver's temple and next to his eyelid with his thumb, Oliver's eyes shut. "Then I'm going to tease every. Little. Piece. Of you until you're begging me to fuck you. I won't, but if you beg just right I'll fuck you with my fingers. You will hold on," he ordered. Oliver shivered, holding back a moan,"because if you can hold on when I'm fucking you so hard that you're fucking yourself on my fingers, I'll take my mouth to that tight little arse of yours."

Oliver gasped lightly, not loud enough for anyone to hear except for Slade, who was likely listening out for it.

"Would you like that Oliver?" Slade said. He paused, not going any further; he wanted Oliver to answer him.

Knowing what Slade liked, Oliver opened his eyes, light meeting dark and said,"Yes Slade, I need you inside of me," a blush crept onto his cheeks from a mixture of Slade's words, the fact that it was Slade, the idea that people could hear,and most likely the wine too.

Slade smiled. "Will you be good?"

Oliver nodded. "Yes Slade, I will be good."

Slade smiled before spotting something to Oliver's left, his face fell and he said,"Oh crap," but then he chuckled, his shoulders shaking lightly. Oliver went to see what it was but Slade held his face in place. "I'm going to pay the bill, no arguments," Slade smiled, "I'll tell you when we get out of here," the older man stood to take care of the bill but before leaving he leant down and kissed Oliver."I'll see you outside."

Oliver did as the older man asked, had it been something bad following the man's orders was a good idea, but it did not seem to be from the way Slade was acting. Oliver trusted that the older man would tell him. Maybe it was the alcohol, Slade, or the mixture of happiness the two brought but Oliver was feeling silly. Scanning the room for anyone watching, Oliver skilfully grabbed the wine bottle,hiding it under his jacket before leaving.

"So what was that?" Oliver asked as Slade joined him outside.

Slade looked at the jacket Oliver should have been wearing in this cold weather, cocking a brow when he spotted a large lump sticking out."What is that?"

Oliver flashed the bottle, half of which was still full of the red liquid. "Wine?" he smiled.

Slade laughed and fell forward, forehead resting on Oliver's shoulder. "Oliver," he smiled, "Yeah, sure," he started to walk down the street,knowing Oliver would follow. Oliver did in fact follow, pulling his jacket on before passing his boyfriend the bottle. The older man removed the lid and took a swig before twirling the lid back on. He sighed pleasantly,"I've missed red wine."

"How's finding all of Fyers bosses going?" Oliver asked. Slade had said before when they were eating that he had quit his job, Oliver couldn't really blame the guy with all that had happened and how the work went further than he could have ever imagined. Oliver understood the message; Fyers had bosses who had to be dealt with.

Slade's voice took a serious tone, his eyebrows down. "Bosses upon bosses and many more after. The first load we could arrest near straight away, the second took some work but they're working on it. After that linking evidence gets more difficult and after that is a mystery," Slade looked up, searching the sky for stars. He could see a few but the buildings got in the way, he hated cities. "What we did though," he looked to Oliver, "will have saved many lives both from the activities of the Island and the halt of future plans of Fyers bosses who will be keeping a low profile to avoid capture," he grabbed a hold of Oliver's shoulder, giving it a squeeze."Couldn't have done it without you," he smiled,"you remember that."

Oliver smiled, he got a lot of pity about the Island and the more people knew the worse it got but it had all been worth it; to stop Fyers,to have met and saved Yao Fei, Shado and Slade and to have all that they had given Oliver; understanding, knowledge, friendship and love, admittedly, some more than others. Oliver wished he could tell the world that they did not need to pity him, with all that Oliver and his friends had done, but he knew he could not. He did not want fame and respect was something he was willing to sacrifice both for the sake of finding everyone involved and to reduce further pitying. But having someone who understood, whom talking to about the Island would actually bring smiles instead of pain,and having the respect he received from Slade as a fellow warrior made Oliver truly feel proud.

Slade took his hand back and dropped it down to Oliver's, knotting their fingers together. Never mind how their relationship had started (with a game of hide and seek and a jar of honey), they were just like any other couple. Walking down the street hand in hand.

"Okay so what happened in the restaurant?" Oliver asked,looking at Slade. The wine bottle was probably making the man's hand cold, they should get a cab or something but Oliver wasn't sure where they should go, he'd have to ask Slade what he thought later. Once he found out what the hell the older man had been laughing at.

Slade chuckled lightly, "Remember how I was describing what I would do to you in Mandarin?"

Oliver nodded, looking away sheepishly. There were still a large number of people around.

Slade moved his mouth to Oliver's ear, "By just listening to my voice you were becoming more and more turned on," The older man's husky voice said into Oliver's ear, the warm breath on his cold skin unbelievably arousing. "That even now you would love for me to pull you into the nearest ally way and fuck you up against a wall," Slade kissed Oliver's ear before lightly licking the shell with the tip of his tongue.

Oliver gasped and grabbed hold of Slade's bicep with his spare hand, not once did the two of them stop walking. God, he missed this. Slade's oh so skilful tongue was something Oliver would never be able to forget. The wet warm touch travelling over the younger man's body was unbearably teasing, making Oliver want to rip his own hair out from the need to have Slade's thick cock inside of him right now!

Slade pulled away, he kissed Oliver's ear and then he kissed the man's cheek affectionately. He smiled,"After you had told me how good you were going to be,"

Oliver face was definitely red at this point. He nodded and placed his head onto Slade's shoulder.

Slade grinned, "Out of the corner of my eye I saw a very red faced Chinese waitress."

Oliver's eyebrows shot up, eyes boggled.


	6. The Wine, You May Blame It On

Oliver had blushed, and Slade had laughed so hard that he had to lean forward, hand on one of his knees to hold himself up. Oliver had glared at him at first,but then he joined in. It was really embarrassing, no, humiliating, but dear God was it funny. Oliver was pretty sure the wine was what was making this so unbelievably entertaining.

Oliver had not drank that much when he got back to the city, only really when he was socialising. Yao Fei had once told him a quote from a German philosopher, roughly translated; "Battle not with monsters lest ye become a monster; and if you gaze into the abyss the abyss gazes into you." Yao Fei did not specify what it meant but Oliver took the meaning he could find in it. To Oliver it was a warning of becoming the very thing that he was fighting against. Use alcohol to rid the sadness and in time that's all he would ever use it for; he'd never try to overcome it and just keep falling and drinking and falling and drinking...

It was good advice and much needed. Lian Yu may have been the place where Oliver became stronger and had met Slade, Yao Fei and Shado but it was also the place Oliver had floated to after seeing people die on the boat, watching his father kill a man and himself in order to save Oliver, the place Oliver had buried his father, got shot with an Arrow, stabbed repeatedly by Deathstroke, and trained to his limits; everything from fighting to language. Jamming his brain full of information and pushing his body forward even when his muscles and bones were aching, begging Oliver to stop, that his body could not go on - but it had to. Every. Single. Day. Even when Oliver had been left behind, he still had to fight. He had to look out for some way to escape.

There was no time to wallow in self-pity there, but once Oliver got home there was nothing to do but that. Oliver knew that he had remade the Island; slept on the floor with the windows open, to remake the cold nights before and after Slade, created an area to train, a hide away from the rest of society and with a list of enemies, things were back to the way they had been. But he was alone. He needed someone who was as strong as Oliver and could understand what Oliver was doing, or at least what he told himself he was doing. Diggle was close, but not the same, and the more Oliver was in this city the more he began to realise; he was holding onto the past, trying to remake it because after so long, the constant need to survive was all he had.

Oliver pulled away from the list somewhat, he still had a job to do but he needed to lead his life. He slept in his bed, had warm showers, baths even. Drank with Tommy, even if now the man found it hard to look at him, knowing his secret. He tried eating dinner with his family but he was always so busy,until at last he stopped trying. He met old friends in his club but it was never long before he was back downstairs. At first his sister and mother always tried to get him to stay, to talk to them but Oliver pushed them away, saying he needed time. Why was this so damn hard?! Being normal is normal therefore it should be easy. Right?

The pair had finished the last of the alcohol, thrown it into a bin a while ago, but all of that red wine was beginning to make Oliver sleepy and Slade could see this.

"Let's get you home," Slade said, leading Oliver to a taxi rank. The older man was disappointed that this was the end of their night but they both really needed sleep. A good meal, wine and a lack of sleep for what looked to be the both of them was really taking its toll.

"No!" Oliver said, a little louder then he meant which was not helping his point, so instead he said "You could come to mine for the night," Oliver looked down at their linked hands "I've missed having you there," 'when I sleep' was clearly left out, but Slade would catch the drift.

Slade smiled. "Okay."

Smiling, Oliver stopped walking which in turn made Slade stop; he looked up to his boyfriend and kissed him. The kiss was sweet and chaste; Oliver loved the taste of red wine on his boyfriend's dark full lips. The red wine had stained Slade's lips a noticeable purple, just at the opening, but Oliver liked it. It was like a hickey; a little short-term mark that signified their time together. The kiss was quickly turning passionate; Oliver wrapped his arms around Slade's strong thick neck, whereas Slade's arms were wrapped around the younger man's waist. Wrists crossed, he reached down with his large tanned hands and squeezed Oliver's rear. Oliver jolted, moaning loudly in Slade's mouth, arching his body closer to Slade's while pushing his behind back into the hands. Oliver loved the feel of Slade's warm body against his, especially when those strong hands grabbed at his behind.

The kiss was interrupted by wolf whistles and giggles, the two men broke apart to see a group of girls; two fake red heads, two dark brunettes and one blonde, aged about twenty-one to twenty-three. One wore a dress, another wore a skirt and shirt, the rest wore skinny jeans; two black, one red.

Oliver went to reluctantly pull away from Slade, expecting the older man to do the same. He was surprised however when the Australian, not being much of a gentleman right now, forced Oliver's body flush against his oh so wonderfully muscular chest, the familiar and very much missed warmth seeping into Oliver's skin through the thin shirts that separated the two men. Oliver was ashamed to say that the feel of those powerful forcing hands on the area that turned him on so, caused the blonde to gasp.

The two brunettes and the blonde stood there, mouths hanging slack in shock. One red head out right laughed at the look on Oliver's face, which he could only imagine was a mixture of shock and severe arousal. The other red head looked more intimidated by couple in fount of her, worried that her friend's behaviour could get them into trouble.

Oliver hid his face in Slade's chest; he could feel his nose dipping into the crevice between the older man's pecs. "Asshole," his voice was both mumbled and muffled,but Slade understood fine.

Slade smiled, "Hey, I have a sexy boyfriend. So sue me for wanting to show him off," the older man directed them towards the taxi rank.

Oliver just walked with the man, he had pulled his very red face away but he stayed leaning into the man. He was embarrassed, he had been embarrassed a lot tonight, but it was from being seen, not the acts themselves. After all, the two liked to flirt and grab at each other, nothing was more normal to them, so although Oliver was a little red faced he did not regret what they had done and what they would do in the future.

* * *

They had got a taxi to take them to the manor and Oliver paid the driver before Slade could get his wallet out. Slade simply chuckled at the younger man's determination.

"So," Oliver said as the taxi left, "what do you think?"

Beyond the tall black steel fencing and the tarmac driveway which, void of all dips and cracks, ran through the clean cut and clearly looked after by paid help grass, stood the mansion, more like a castle really. It was three stories and was a bit medieval looking; a mixture of shades of dark and light grey as well as afew white stones made up the large stone walls with borders of cream stone, slightly darkened by the night sky. The windows and the large front doors were all likely wooden. All the windows were painted white, minus the second floor which was green and there were three chimneys, although one of them could have been for the kitchen considering how old the place looked. In front of the house was an oval shaped garden which the cars would have had to circle around to reach the front doors, and tall, dark lamp posts stood on each end of the garden, just after the driveway. Most of the roofing was triangular minus the roofing of the arch way over the front doors, the roofing of the second story behind that, and third story behind that, which made the roofs look like stairs in the way they were one above and behind the other. The roofing there was flat with high stone rises and gaps a couple of inches wide after every foot of wall, like the kind of walls archers hid behind and fired through the gaps in the medieval ages.

"Fuckin' hell," Slade's deep voice echoed through the night air.

Oliver laughed lightly, a smile on his face. "It's my family's house," he pointed out, even if he was pretty sure Slade had guessed that.

Instead of glaring at the younger man or smacking him lightly on the shoulder or the back of his blonde head, Slade simply said, "Great, I'm a predator."

"Shut up," Oliver said, before realising,"My mother does not know you exist, so you will have to sneak in."

"Once again I say; predator."

Oliver ignored the older man. "I'll distract, you go upstairs."

"Mission accepted," Slade smirked.

Oliver just rolled his eyes.

* * *

Oliver opened the large wooden doors, having moments ago got them passed the gates, typing in the code to let them through. Step one; getting inside the manor. Complete.

"Mum, you in?" Oliver called.

"Living room," a female voice called back.

Oliver mumbled directions to his room to Slade, who nodded before going. Oliver went to the living room, the one with the TV. They had two; one with a TV anda more formal looking room where they could talk to guests. The other living room had a group of sofas; one with three seats, another with two and the last three just for singular seating. There was a desk, phone and computer where Oliver's father would have once sat; watching as the kids played with the toys that were now stowed away, along with blankets the father would wrap around his children when they fell asleep stored in the two large wooden cupboards standing on the other side of the room. There were also two bookcases each side of the large fire place. The whole fire place was made of stone and took up a large portion of the wall. The fire place itself was a black metal box held up by its four legs; it opened up via a medium sized gate through which the logs, which lay either side of the box, could be thrown in. It also had a thick, black pipe coming out of the top of the box which went up the chimney to allow smoke to escape into the night air. There was another fire place in the front room but,like the living room, it was only used for guests.

Making his way into the living room, Oliver saw his mother. She was reading through some papers, the TV on low in the background.

She looked up, having heard Oliver walk into the room. "How was your night out?" she asked, looking a little confused, but happy.

"Fine," Oliver said cocking a brow, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," His mother smiled, pushing and pulling the papers into a neat pile."Thea came back not too long ago," she placed her pen on the pile,"She said you met up with a friend that you haven't seen for a while," she smiled, remembering how happy her little girl had looked.

"Yeah," Oliver smiled, hoping his mother would not push the subject. "Goodnight."

Luckily she did not. "Goodnight," she replied, smiling at her son before picking up the remote and looking at the TV. What for,Oliver did not stick around long enough to find out.

Oliver made his way up the stairs and towards his room. Turning around the corner he heard voices; a deep one, Slade and a softer one, Thea... Thea?

Oliver picked up speed and, taking the next corner, he saw it. There, at the bottom of the hall, was Slade Wilson and Thea Queen, chatting; Thea was talking and smiling about something while Slade was nodding, leaning against the wall next to Oliver's room door. His arms were crossed but he looked relaxed and there was a small smile on his face.

Thea looked over to Oliver. "Hey Ollie," she smiled. Slade looked over too, unsurprised. He had heard the younger man coming.

"Hey," Oliver said, walking towards the two, feeling a little awkward. "So..." he said,"You've met."

"Uncomfortable," Thea said, shaking her head in mock disappointment.

"Simple Oliver psychology," Slade tilted his head to Thea, making the same face and nodding.

Thea smiled and laughed like the two had some hidden joke going and it looks like they did. "I like you," she said simply, "so far you're the most entertaining person Oliver has dated."

Slade smiled back, he had noticed the use of the words "so far" but,then again, the two of them had only just met and Oliver was her brother. Older or not, Thea did seem protective of him. Slade had to admit though, he liked the kid. "I take that as a complement."

"Okay..." Oliver said, feeling a little lost.

Thea smiled, turning back to her brother, "If I ever sneak a guy in," she pointed a finger at Oliver, "I expect secrecy."

Oliver frowned but there was a light smile pulling lightly at his lips. "Not until your married or 30," he said. Thinking for a second, he continued,"Scratch that, both."

"Your twenty-six," she pointed out.

"Fine, twenty-six."

"Deal," she smiled, enjoying the little argument. "Night Ollie," she said, walking to her own room, up the hall. All of their rooms were spread apart; Oliver had on the odd occasion had text message conversations from his room, with his sister, who was in hers. Lazy maybe, but Oliver thought it was funny.

Slade opened the door and walked into Oliver's room, followed by the man himself. "I like your sister."

Oliver glared at the back of the older man's head. "I'm not surprised, she's a lot like you," Oliver swung the door shut, hearing the click and as he flipped the lock he realised something. Out spoken, stands proudly; shoulders back, head held high, a natural swagger, keeps calm but when angry is almost animalistic, protects Oliver furiously, likes to joke at Oliver's expense. "She is you," Oliver shook his head, smiling,"No wonder you two get on," his voice low, sounding exhausted. The blonde had a bad feeling that when his boyfriend and sister started to really get on they were bound to team up.

Slade chuckled. "Worried the two of us will team up?" he turned his head to see the look on Oliver's face. Slade grinned, looking forward in thought, "So many plans in the works," he said to himself.

Oliver walked over to stand in fount of the older man. "Don't you dare," he said, with no real malice.

Slade grin grew before turning into a smile. He cupped Oliver's cheeks with both of his hands, pulled the younger man forward and kissed him. Finally the two could just kiss; no more time limits. Just their lips touching one another. Sliding one hand down Oliver's body to pull his body close via the hip, he licked the red lips.

Oliver relaxed, opening his mouth for the older man. The kiss was tender but was quickly turning passionate, tongues riding together. Oliver wrapped one arm around Slade's ribs. His spare hand held the back of the older man's head, grasping the wiry black hair, pulling him closer. Sneaking his tongue forward,Oliver licked the roof of Slade's mouth, grinning against the older man's full lips as he shivered. Satisfied, Oliver pulled away from the kiss to kiss Slade's neck.

The older man lifted his chin, exposing more of his neck for Oliver to kiss. The blonde lightly ran his tongue over the Adam's apple before moving to the side of Slade's neck, biting down. Slade gasped lightly, bordering on a moan. Oliver ran his tongue over the developing mark, kissing it gently before pulling back to inspect his work. Slade allowed the younger man a quick look before kissing him.

Now it was Slade's turn.

Slade held Oliver's bottom lip with his teeth, biting down and sucking the flesh in the hopes of leaving a mark. Oliver moaned lightly. Slade kissed those lips one last time. "I've missed that," his voice deep voice was husky. Moving down to Oliver's neck Slade proceeded to leave behind a large, dark, and very noticeable mark. He grinned as Oliver gasped, throwing his head back to give the older man better access.

Oliver's eyelashes fluttered shut, gasping as Slade bit down on the side of his neck. His mouth hung open slightly, releasing small gasps which turned into whines when Slade licked along his jugular, groaning as Slade bit down. God, Oliver missed this. Missed Slade's teeth biting down hard on Oliver's neck, his thick lips against Oliver's, and that tongue. In his mouth, at his neck, nipples, in his belly button, up inside of Oliver's ass and any other place it could find to torture the younger man. Every sensation that skilled tongue could give was incredible. Oliver was willing to beg for even the smallest amount of treatment from that tongue, something Slade was always happy to hear.

Slade pulled away from Oliver's neck and Oliver opened his eyes to look at the into the near jet black orbs, pouting lightly. Slade took one of Oliver's hands into his own, the other laying on Oliver's cheek. "You are beautiful," he smiled, entwining their fingers together, "So beautiful," he stroked Oliver's bottom lip with his thumb.

Turning off the light and turning on the bedside lamp, the two lay in bed together; naked, Slade's clothes folded neatly on the desk, Oliver's in the laundry bin. They lay on their sides, facing each other, fingers knotted together, talking lightly. Oliver had been sleepy but ready for sex;Slade had said that they should just sleep now and that tomorrow,when everyone was out, he would fuck Oliver till he screamed.

"Promise?" Oliver had asked, eyes sparking green in the light of the lamp.

"Promise," Slade had said, staring into those eyes with his own pools of black abyss.

The two chatted for a while longer, lazily kissing now and again, before deciding it was time for the two of them to sleep.

Reaching over to turn off the lamp Oliver remembered, "Hey Slade?"

"Mmm?" Slade's eyes stayed closed from exhaustion, head resting on his hand, held up by his elbow.

"I'm supposed to be meeting up with Diggle and Felicity, the two who know what I do," Oliver added.

Slade nodded, opening his eyes slowly.

"We're checking out someone on the list tomorrow night and I was wondering if you wanted to meet them?"

Slade blinked, eyebrows raised, but then he gave a Cheshire cat smile."I'd love to."

Oliver smiled back. He turned off the lamp before moving back to lie next to Slade. The two hugged for a moment before Oliver rolled on to his side, facing away from Slade. The older man smirked, spooning in behind his boyfriend. Oliver loved the feeling of that strong muscular chest pressed against his back, it made him feel safe and, yes, aroused but he would have to ignore that for now. A large arm wrapped around Oliver's waist, pulling him closer to the heat that had kept Oliver warm enough to fall asleep every night. He had really missed this; sleep was going to be easy tonight for the first night in nearly a year.

Slade stroked Oliver's belly. "You need to eat more," he commented, sounding like he was just about to drop off.

Oliver would have made some sort of comeback but he was really starting to feel the lack of energy now, his eyelids drooping shut. Oliver gave in; shutting his eyes, he pushed himself closer to the warmth, smiling as Slade's arm tightened around him.

"Goodnight Slade."

"Goodnight Oliver," Slade placed a kiss on the back of the younger man's neck.


	7. My Name is Slade and I'm An Oliverholic

Slade's long black eyelashes fluttered lightly, gradually bringing his mind back to the world of the waking. He did not want to wake; he was warm and the bedding felt feather light on skin, stopping his body from feeling trapped by the heat. The bed he lay on was just the right amount of soft but sturdy -bodily cramps were never a good start to the day. However, the thing that truly made Slade feel content was the body that lay next to his, arm wrapped around his ribs, head resting on his chest which was moving slightly, hair brushing against his tanned skin. Oliver's comfort-finding sleep movements must have been what had woken Slade.

Forcing his eyes to stay closed, he ignored the red he could see on his eyelids which signified there was some annoying light in the room, likely coming through the windows. Slade's arm curled around Oliver's shoulders, pulling him further onto Slade's chest. Oliver groaned lightly, sounding displeased, and tightened his grip on Slade's ribs. Slade just smirked, kissing the blonde hair. He inhaled, his boyfriend smelled like smoke and oranges. A weird mix; Slade could tell that the oranges were from Oliver's shampoo and, if he had to guess, the smoke was likely from his adventures hiding out on top of roofs waiting for someone on that list of his to show. Always hide somewhere where your enemy would never expect, regardless of whether or not they know you're coming. Height is almost always the best choice, both for hiding and for long distance weaponry with which being high up will give you a better chance of hitting the target, and also for making a quick escape if necessary. That lesson took a while to teach, considering he had to teach the kid to climb and stay balanced first.

Slade moved his spare hand up to stroke Oliver's short cut hair. Oliver's naturally soft hair felt kind of fluffy in its short state, Slade made a mental note to comment about it later. He ran his fingers through the younger man's hair, massaging his scalp. Oliver, still asleep, tilted his head to lean into the hand. His breathing was becoming less deep and quickening ever so slightly. Oliver would awake shortly. Not a bad way to wake up, Slade had to admit that.

Slade opened his eyes lightly, blinking to become used to the light. There was indeed light coming through the curtains, shining onto the floor at the end of the bed. Slade ignored it, slipping his arms under the covers and wrapping them around Oliver's waist, tenderly caressing his boyfriend's hip with his fingertips.

Oliver stirred, opening his eyes to reveal those amazingly emerald orbs, engraved with shimmers of crystal and specks of topaz. So precious and unique. His gaze on Slade's chest, Oliver reached a hand up from Slade's ribs, moving under Slade's arm, to gently stroke the patch of skin he was looking at. He nuzzled his cheek into Slade's chest, running his index fingertip down the dip between his boyfriend's pecs, following the light trail of wiry hair.

Slade smiled. He lifted his hand to the back of Oliver's head. Oliver felt this, freezing then relaxing, and looked up to meet the older man's eyes, a dark honey brown in the morning sun.

"Morning," Oliver smiled, eyes seeming to shine brighter upon seeing his boyfriend.

"Morning," Slade said, kissing Oliver's forehead, the younger man's eyelashes fluttering shut as the older man did so. Pulling back, Slade saw the closed eyes. He smiled and kissed the tip of Oliver's nose.

BANG BANG BANG

The knocking on the door caused the two men to nearly jump out of their skin, effectively ruining the moment.

"Oliver," A loud whisper said from behind the door, obviously Thea, "I've got to go to school, but I brought you guys some breakfast."

"Thanks Thea," Oliver called, not really knowing what to say in this situation.

Unseen to the two males, Thea smiled, placing the tray on the floor. "It's on the floor," she said. Just before she was about to leave she stopped and turned back to the door. "You look after him because, lumberjack or not, I will kick your ass," She said before leaving. Her voice held no malice but Slade knew there was worry rooted deep in her. The breakfast had likely been a ruse to get the chance to warn the older man, but he didn't mind.

Slade smirked, he would have called something back but he did not want to risk Oliver's mother overhearing.

Oliver covered his face with the hand from Slade's chest. The older man could feel the heat from the burning cheeks on his chest.

"Could have been worse," Slade mumbled, petting Oliver's head gently. He did not like seeing the younger man upset and as much as he cared for and trusted him, Slade had a worry in the back of his mind, although he knew it was pathetic; that one day Oliver would realise that he did not want to be with him anymore.

Slade had been scared many times in his life; he was man enough to admit that: fear that his fellow navy men could see his sexuality written across his forehead. Fear that he would not be able to save everyone. Fear that he would die, first in the navy all the way through to the missions as an ASIS agent. Fear when Billy and he had been shot down, crash landing on the Island. Fear of Billy himself. Fear of Oliver dying which, at the time, was very likely and being left alone again. Fear of losing Oliver, someone whom Slade considered a friend. Fear of losing Oliver, someone who kept Slade sane, someone who could distract him from Lian Yu. Fear of losing Oliver, someone he cared for deeply. Every fear Slade had ever faced he had overcome, keeping calm and collected, understanding that he could not have done anything and, if he could, to do it next time. He had accepted a long time ago that his family would never want him back, and then that they were never coming back. He accepted that no one would understand who he was and would want to wait for him. He accepted that everyone looked out for number one; Billy had proved that, not even giving it a second thought before stabbing his friend in the back.

Then there was Oliver. A spoiled brat, who Slade knew would fail. He'd be killed or become depressed and kill himself. Slade knew he'd be the one to put the kid out of his misery sooner or later, but he never did. The kid was just so strong. The brat just kept fighting, both physically and mentally, still cracking jokes even when the world itself seemed like it was trying to obliterate every piece of hope they had left. Slade had seen the marks left by Billy. The little fucker should have been broken but he wasn't and it made no fucking sense.

Slade remembered the 45 calibre bullet that stood on that small makeshift table; basically the smooth surface of a large log that stood next to his bed. Just that bullet, nothing else and there was room. There was a reason for that after all. It was the last bullet from his M1911, the only gun and bullet Slade had left that was his. Neither Fyers nor Billy's. Slade's bullet, Slade's gun, Slade choice. The empty gun was buried outside the plane, under a large piece of white painted metal panelling. Both to keep it hidden and, if the time did come, Slade hoped this would deter him, if only slightly. He would never work for Fyers; he would not let them taint him. Slade stayed strong during the year he was held captive and he would keep fighting until he and Yao Fei got on that plane. But if he couldn't...

He remembered staring at the bullet, clean cut and shining in the light like it was some sort of diamond.

He was being a coward for even thinking about it, which was one of the things that kept him holding on just a little longer, but that was about it. There was no one back home waiting, no real home really; no friends nor family, just work. He had saved many lives in his time, which he would never regret. He would never regret who he was and the things he had done. He always did what he thought was right and accepted when he wasn't.

Sometimes there is no big battle, no last stand, no glory or even recognition. No words can help; no clever sayings can be used. It's all beyond description. Too painful, yet empty. Sometimes it does not matter what you got right even when you got every little thing exactly right. You're stuck. You're fucked. A laugh releases from your throat; like your body its self is trying to change your mind, forcing a bubble of euphoria up -but the bubble pops, the sadness quickly grips you tight and drags you back into the black bubbling tar of hopelessness. The only light you see is the shine of the bullet, reflecting the light of the half-arsed attempt of a fire, as if mocking how pathetic you really are.

Then Oliver just waltzed in. Yao Fei was captured. Slade was so annoyed by this news he wanted to hit the brat and he did, hard, with the butt of one of his stolen guns. He'd tied the brat to a chair and threatened to kill him to see how strong this kid was. Dislocating his wrist get out and punch Slade, the answer was very clear. Slade remembered laughing at the kid, both at his determination and just at the whole situation. This brat was someone he could work on, train to get them out of here on that plane. Oliver failed but he did have his uses, as it turns out, and not just knowing that one quote from The Odyssey to correct his mistake.

Slade had been amazed that Oliver wanted to go back for Yao Fei, knowing his chances of survival were minimal at best. Why did Slade get so panicked when he did not come back? Why did he go after him? He had no idea. Maybe there was still that spark inside of him that wanted to protect or maybe it was because Oliver had people back home and Slade did not. Oliver was loved and needed, Slade was not.

Oliver distracted Slade from the darkness with his stupidity, his childishness, his kindness, his humour, the way he seemed to understand Slade, the way he was completely unafraid of the professional killer. His faith in Slade, his trust, his touch, his kisses, the way he wrapped the strands of Slade's hair around his fingers, stroking the older man's black hair when he thought he was asleep. That dopey smile on his face, so full of happiness like he was love drunk, but Slade knew that was too good the be true.

"Slade?" Oliver reached his hand to Slade's cheek, "You okay?" he asked, eyebrows down and eyes full of worry.

Slade nodded, giving a light smile. "Yeah," he said softly, "just thinking."

Oliver didn't like how his boyfriend was acting. The corners of his mouth had been pulled down and his eyes had looked near lifeless. Upon hearing Oliver he had smiled but only just, his eyes brightened and focused, but his voice was just quiet, not the usual "I can sound like the king of everything even when I'm whispering" quiet. The kind that turned Oliver on a lot more than it probably should. It was just so quiet, so vulnerable. Every about him was just so raw and open.

"Sorry," Slade said, having seen the look on Oliver's face. He leant forward and kissed Oliver's forehead.

"It's okay." It wasn't.

Oliver let it pass for now. He moved to get out of bed. "I'll get us breakfast," he said. He walked over to the door, still butt naked which made Slade chuckle lightly. He unlocked the door before slipping his head out; looking for anyone, even when he knew that at this point in the day everyone should be out. Thea at school, his mother at work and their cook Raisa would not be back until the evening. The years on the Island had taught Oliver to check, just in case. Better safe than sorry and all that. He leaned down, bending his knees slightly, and picked up the tray. This gave Slade a great view of his ass, which the older man was bound to be thankful for.

Slade watched the younger man move, admiring his toned muscles, milky skin, the curve of his spin and of course that perky arse of his. The tattoos and scars were part of Oliver and had all been necessary to bring him to this moment in time. The two of them safe and together. This made Slade love each and every one of them, only wishing that Oliver did not have to suffer to get them.

Oliver was kind, tender, funny, generally amazing, a hell of a fighter and just beautiful. One day he was going to make some very lucky man very happy, but today, and for as long as possible, he was Slade's. Slade smiled, eyes scanning over Oliver's body, focusing on the bite marks he had left. His favourite was the large mark on the side of Oliver's neck, above his jugular, followed closely by the one on Oliver's bottom lip, where a large patch was bruised, turning a faint dark purple. There was only one other bite mark but Slade was pretty sure he had made his message quite clear.

Oliver brought the tray over and placed it on the end of the bed. Their breakfast consisted of a glass jug full of freshly made coffee, two cups, a small pot of sugar and a small jug of milk, along with a plate of six pieces of toast well covered in melted butter that had since gone cold. Oliver guessed that Thea may have got help from Raisa, who wouldn't have asked.

They ate the toast and drank coffee, leaning against the headboard of the bed, pillows propped up to separate their bare skin from the bed's hard wooden frame. Slade was on his second cup of black coffee when Oliver sat himself on the older man's toned thighs.

Slade raised a brow, taking a sip of coffee before asking, "Can I help you?"

"You could fuck me." A simple suggestion without even a hint of shyness, unlike their first few experiences together. It was so strange how they had just stepped back into place, no hint of fear or worry.

"I didn't hear a please," Slade forced the smirk down, keeping his face completely unfazed.

Oliver took the coffee from Slade's large tanned hands, which seemed to be drowning the white porcelain cup, and placed it on the night stand where the tray already sat. He then leant forward, grinning as he whispered, "Please fuck me Slade," into Slade's ear, in perfect Mandarin.

Slade grinned; he almost chuckled at the memory of the restaurant. He grabbed hold of Oliver's hips and flipped him onto the bed, moving so he sat in-between Oliver's thighs, before kissing him.

Oliver ran one of his hands up Slade's spine, grinning as the older man shivered. Moving up he petted the thick black hair before gripping it and pulling the older man closer, opening his mouth to allow his tongue in.

The kiss continued; the two going back and forth, kissing and nipping at each other's lips, jaw and neck. Pawing and grabbing at each other's bodies, the familiarity quickly coming back. The next time they pulled apart for air, instead of one of them attacking the other neck, Slade started to crawl down Oliver's body, pampering his body with kisses. He started with Oliver's neck and collar bone, kissing the flesh lovingly, before making his way to Oliver's nipples.

Oliver gasped as Slade rolled the nub with his tongue, arching his back and grasping Slade's head to reserve more pressure. Slade grinned at this, moving to work on the other nipple before continuing his journey south. Oliver's hand just slipped off Slade head as he went, landing on his ribs, which were moving ferociously up and down as he panted, jolting to halt every time Slade found another spot to tease the younger man. Especially when Slade kissed and bit at the area under Oliver's ribs. The younger man sucked in a breath as if trying to move his body away but Slade knew better from the way Oliver also arched his back further.

Oliver's toes curled tightly, grasping the sheets. He tried to push his body down to get some pressure on cock via grinding up against Slade's thigh, but the older man felt the first signs of movement and grabbed Oliver's hips, pinning him to the bed. Whines escaped his throat as Slade dipped his tongue into his belly bottom, teasing the hole before pulling back slightly and lightly blowing warm air into the wet hole. Oliver whined but before he could tell the older man to get on with it already, Slade moved in-between his legs and started to kiss his toned thighs. Oliver dropped his legs open to give the man more room to work.

Slade kissed his way up Oliver's thighs, the younger man's pants becoming faster the further up he went, however Slade stopped and moved back down. Oliver whined in annoyance but that whine quickly turned into a loud moan, back stiffening and head thrown back from the electricity that coursed up his spine. Slade had bit down. The bite was on the inside of his right thigh which was, unsurprisingly, very sensitive.

"Please..." Oliver said, so exhausted but so damn turned on. "Touch me," he groaned.

Slade ran the tip of his nose over the mark, causing Oliver to moan.

"Please," Oliver needed Slade so badly. "Please just- Ahh!" Oliver near screamed as Slade took him into his mouth without warming.

Slade smirked. He rolled his tongue around the head, sucking lightly, before teasing the slit with the tip of his tongue. Oliver grasped the sheets with one hand, with the other he grasped Slade's hair, thankfully he still had enough sense to remember not to grab too tightly. Slade sank the length further into his mouth, one hand grasping Oliver's length for leverage. The calloused fingers were rough against Oliver's sensitive skin, burning ever so slightly. Oliver stopped himself from bucking, even if it meant his cock could feel more of that burn and dive further into that mouth, the other hand had moved away from his hip which could mean Slade had something else planned and there was no way Oliver was going to ruin that, because his bucking would mean that, that hand would have to be used to restrain him.

Slade did indeed have a plan. He removed the length from his mouth and proceeded to mouth at the underside of the length, sucking along the vein and occasionally returning to roll his tongue around the head and tease the slit.

Oliver rolled his head side to side, gasping and moaning at the things Slade was doing to him. Words half slurred but no less demanding, sounds of "Yes" and "More" and of course "Fuck" fell from his lips. Unknown to Oliver, Slade placed two of his own fingers into his mouth, getting them nice and wet, while at the same time massaging the younger man's length to keep him distracted.

Oliver could feel his orgasm just on the horizon and while this new burning yet relaxing sensation was doing wonders, he needed more and that's just what he got.

Slade lapped at Oliver's length, getting it wet, which would make swallowing him so much easier. Slade then once again took Oliver into his mouth. This led Oliver to gasp, grabbing at Slade's hair once more. Slade took more and more of Oliver, every time he felt like he was about to gag he would pull back; sucking the head, teasing the slit, tracing the vein and generally lapping at the length with his tongue, reading himself to go further, Oliver moaning all the while.

However the next time Slade pulled away, not wanting to risk Oliver suddenly cuming in his mouth, he ran his tongue up and down the underside of Oliver's length while at the same time jerking him off. He slid a finger into Oliver.

Oliver could not help pushing against the finger. The pleasure was amazing and just filled him in a way that made him feel so complete. There was something about having Slade inside of him that made Oliver feel so content, the same way he felt when, after washing himself in freezing collected rain water, Slade would come over and pull Oliver flush against his bare chest, arms wrapping around him. The warmth and just knowing that it was Slade seemed to push away all the cold and loneliness, fixing and completing him in ways Oliver never knew he needed.

Slade worked Oliver, first one then two fingers slipping inside of him. It didn't sound like much but Slade had large hands, which meant long thick fingers that were stretching Oliver's rim wonderfully. Slade quickly found Oliver's prostate and a few jabs at that and a few tugs of his length and Oliver was coming; body jerking, gasping like a dying fish, fingers and toes gripping the sheets. He had cum onto the older man's chest but said man did not seem to mind. Slade ran his index finger over his ribs and then proceed to lick the trace of sperm off his finger. Oliver's eyes rolled back into his head.

Slade kissed Oliver, slipping his tongue into the younger man's mouth, allowing him to taste himself. Oliver kissed the man back, allowing Slade to do all the work because Oliver was spent, still lingering on the dizziness of his orgasm.

After a few minutes of kissing, which quickly turned from tender to passionate, Slade ran the back of his index and middle finger over Oliver's balls and shaft, nails dragging along the sensitive skin.

"Ahh," Oliver gasped, pulling away from the sudden feeling, but it was very pleasurable.

Slade smirked. Leaning forward he kissed the shell of Oliver's ear before asking, "Do you have any lube?"

Oliver, eyes half shut from having that oh so warm breath against his ear, nodded, not trusting his voice. He pointed to the end table at his side of the bed.

Slade stretched an arm over and opened the drawer. Seeing as he had not moved his body that far he could not see what was in the drawer, so he felt around. After a second or two he found a medium sized plastic bottle, which he was just about to grab when his little finger brushed against something. It was soft although a little worn, likely a scarf, which Slade would have thought was for Oliver's "alone time" seeing what was standing next to it, had it not been for the fact it was so neatly folded. Slade may have asked had he not remembered why he was looking in this drawer in the first place. He grabbed the bottle.

Oliver was now sat up; he'd been looking forward to this after all. They kissed for a while longer and when they broke apart for air Oliver pushed at Slade's shoulder and the older man allowed Oliver to push him back. This lead to Slade sitting, leaning against the headboard with Oliver on his thighs just like they had started, minus the bottle of lube still in Slade's hand.

Oliver lifted himself on to his knees, this was when Slade smirked; realising that Oliver probably wanted to have sex this way so Slade could not tease him further via slowing down. Oliver then wrapped one arm around Slade neck, while the other hand gripped his hair lightly.

Slade pulled off the cap, placing it on his end table. The bottle had a top like a soap pump like you saw it a bathroom, so Slade pumped out a good amount into his palm like it was some sort of painter's palette, before placing the bottle next to the cap.

Their eyes met; near black meeting a slightly worried looking aqua green.

Slade kissed Oliver tenderly and when he pulled away Oliver nodded and smiled.

Slade dipped two fingers into the lube, gathering a good coating before slipping one inside of Oliver. The younger man moaned and continued to do so louder as Slade thrust the finger inside of him at a nice pace, slow so that Oliver would accept him, increasing as the younger man did so. Before they knew it Slade had added a second finger followed by a third, he had also moved his other hand to pour a bit more lube on to his fingers the next time they pulled out slightly, before quickly thrusting back in.

Oliver gripped Slade's short hair tightly, bordering on the line of painful, but Slade ignored it for now in favour of smothering the lubricant onto his length and of course some onto Oliver's too, which was by this point was fully erect, to reduce any friction. Oliver once again pawed at Slade hair, gripping it hard and Slade had a feeling he was going to keep doing this.

An idea then came to Slade. He grabbed hold of Oliver's hands and locked them behind his back. Oliver seemed taken aback by this but a little more turned on. Slade then, not looking, seeing as he was loving the look in those beautiful green eyes, reached for the scarf in the drawer and tied Oliver's wrists together.

Oliver looked over his shoulder to see his wrists, before looking back at Slade with a mixture of severely aroused and something Slade could not describe.

Slade grabbed hold of Oliver's hips and positioned Oliver over his cock; he held it straight with one hand while Oliver lowered himself down. It felt so damn good to be inside of him again; that tightness made Slade want to come right then.

Oliver threw his head back, moaning, and pulled lightly at his wrists, forgetting for a moment that they were tied together and with what Slade had tied them together with in the first place. Ever so slowly he pushed down onto the thick hot rod, body accepting it with only a light tingle of burning within, its lightly painful nature only adding to the pleasure.

Once Slade was all the way inside the two stilled, giving Oliver a minute to fully adjust. Slade kissed his neck and jaw, stroking his hands along the younger man's ribs and waist to soothe him. Not that Oliver needed it.

Oliver raised himself onto his knees and slammed back down, moaning loudly as he moved.

Slade also moaned. "Fuck," he gasped, grabbing onto Oliver's hips once more.

Oliver rode Slade's cock, picking up speed until be built up a good rhythm, while Slade shifted Oliver's hips here and there until he found...

"Oh fuck!" Oliver yelled. He pushed himself down as Slade thrust up to meet him. "So good," he moaned, smile on his face. God, he had missed this so much.

Thrust after the thrust, Oliver rode Slade, Slade fucked Oliver. The rhythm got faster and harder, the two hammering away at each other's bodies. Each pound at Oliver's prostate made him jerk like he was being struck with lightning; although Slade was pretty sure people who were stuck by lightning did not moan, never mind that loudly, nor ask the lightning to fuck them.

"Fuck me," Oliver begged, slamming himself down.

Slade thrust harder, pulling Oliver's hips down, grip hard enough to bruise. Each time Oliver jerked, his body tightened around Slade. The feeling was incredible; that warm tight heat clamping down on him was just simply amazing. Slade wrapped his long fingers around Oliver's shaft and squeezed. Oliver gasped and arched his back, wanting so badly to thrust his cock in Slade's grip but not wanting to lose the length stretching him open, let along the pounding at his prostate. Slade grinned and used the mixture of lube and precome on Oliver's length to jerk him to his climax.

Jerking, thrusting, pounding. Gasps and moans filled the room. All working in rhythm until the end was close, bodies forgetting the rhythm for just the pure need to come. Slade came after one good hard thrust, filling his lover with his seed. Oliver came shortly after; the hot liquid inside of him was just too much, coming once again on Slade, his belly this time.

Oliver rested his forehead on the strong muscles between Slade's shoulder and neck, completely worn out.

Slade smiled. He was content. It was then that he realised that Oliver's wrists were still tied together. Oliver could get out easily, Slade knew, but he'd most likely forgotten. The older man had to admit his brain cells were feeling a bit frazzled too. The older man reached for the knot, looking over Oliver's shoulder to see what he was doing. The scarf was rather long, with small tassels, Slade had felt this much. What he saw, however, was that the scarf was black with a plaid pattern of grey. It was a keffiyeh... It was Slade's keffiyeh, the one he came to the Island with.

Slade untied the scarf and pulled it off Oliver's wrists. He held the fabric in his hand and just stared at it.

"I missed you," Oliver mumbled, peeking out from under Slade's chin at the scarf.

Slade paused for a second not knowing what to say. Oliver had missed him; "keep the only thing I have left of you next to my bed" missed him. Oliver still needed him.

Slade smiled; a true, happy smile. Choosing to ignore the future because right now, Oliver needed him. Slade wrapped the scarf around Oliver's neck. "I missed you too." Slade rolled them onto their sides where they kissed softly for just a few more minutes longer.

I need you too.

* * *

Diggle arrived at the club with Felicity (whom he'd given a lift). Diggle had not seen Oliver since yesterday morning, when he told him that he would be coming to the club with his sister that night. Diggle almost had the chance to question Oliver this morning, but then the man had sent him a text saying he would not need picking up. Diggle remembered laughing and saying, "It was never going to be that easy," but now the time was here.

Felicity typed in the code, the metal door opened and the twosome climbed down the metal stairs, the clanging becoming harder and faster the closer they got to the bottom to find...

Just Oliver; sitting on what had become Felicity's chair, looking at the computer monitors.

"Umm... Oliver?" Felicity asked softly, walking over to Oliver, Diggle following closely behind. "She is real right?" Why did she say that!? "Not that you're insane or anything!" she quickly added, "But this isn't one of those Cast Away with a volleyball called Wilson stories-"

She was cut off by Oliver's laughing; soft, only just stronger than a chuckle.

"...Is it?" She continued, feeling a little concerned. She looked over to Diggle who looked straight back at her. Neither of them had ever seen Oliver act the way he was acting recently which, from the smile on his face, seemed, once again, to be happy, which should not have been so strange. The two were just so used to seeing the "I'm not really happy but it'll stop people asking so I'll just fake it" brand and the "the remotely pleases me" brand that seeing Oliver happy, truly happy, and laughing was weird.

Oliver swivelled the chair to see his comrades and the looks of confusion and a little worry on their faces. "It's just that their last name is Wilson and I made that very same joke the first week we were together," he grinned. "So you want to meet them?" Oliver hoped that by saying "their" and "them" it was not too obvious that he was missing out words like "she" and "her". Slade had a thing for taking people by surprise (something Oliver had been a victim of many times, some of which he enjoyed) and Oliver had to admit that the wanted to see the looks on their faces too.

"Okay," Diggle said, wanting to know who this girl was that made Oliver act like this.

There was a pause.

"So..." Diggle said, looking around, but not noticing the dark figure that was slowly coming up behind the two.

Oliver kept a still face, eyes on Diggle.

"Can we meet her?" Diggle asked.

"That's funny," A deep voice said behind them.

Felicity yelped while Diggle froze, before reaching for his gun. The two quickly turned around.

"I don't remember developing breasts," Slade continued, knitting his eyebrows together in confusion. A smirk crawled onto his face from scaring the two. He then walked around the two, ignoring the gun the African-American, likely military man, was slipping back into its holster.

Felicity squeezed her eyes shut and blinked them open again to find that Oliver's love was still clearly a man. "Okay," she raised her hands in defeat, "I'm confused."

"I'm Slade," Slade said, standing next to Oliver and feeling like he was at alcoholics anonymous, "Aged forty, Australian, served in the navy until my early thirties whereby I became an ASIS agent," He held up his index finger, "That's Australian Secret Intelligence Service, by the way," he pointed out. "Six years ago I took a mission to find and save a man believed to be imprisoned on Lian Yu. He was, by people who were using him to cover their plans. I got captured, got free. Blah, blah, blah," Slade waved a hand, dismissing that matter for now. "One year later; Oliver washed up on Lian Yu and we started to work together to find a way to escape."

"So… Yeah," Oliver said. "This is Slade," he looked up at the older man, who saw the movement from the corner of his eye and looked down to Oliver.

The two gave each other a smile, before Slade leant down and linked them together with a chaste kiss.


	8. So Far So Good

"Wha-ah. Urr..." Felicity struggled to find the right words to say. "Congrats?"

Slade pulled away from the kiss, smile on his face, curling his fingers in his keffiyeh that was still wrapped around Oliver's neck, which only just covered the bite marks. Slade's own marks were hidden via the collar of his leather jacket. Slade looked at Felicity from the corner of his eye. "Thank you," he said, smile growing slightly. He turned back to Oliver and kissed the tip of his nose, before moving to lean against the black metal computer table, his happy smile turning into his usual pleased-but-business smirk.

Oliver turned to his two comrades, "I suppose you have a lot of questions."

"Just a few," Diggle could not help the grin that was pulling at his lips. "I've got to admit," he raised a hand at the Australian, "Slade?"

Slade nodded, crossing his arms in a thankfully comfortable manner.

"You're not what I expected," Diggle continued.

Slade's smirk grew.

Diggle cocked a brow, "You taught Oliver everything?"

Slade nodded again. "Minus the bow," He turned to look at Oliver, "And so the story begins."

"Oh joy," Oliver gave a fake smile

"Do exclude the sex scenes. They're a bit graphic."

Oliver backhanded his boyfriend's shoulder. "Dick." That's just what his boyfriend was sometimes, a complete and total dick, but Oliver could see right through him; what was Slade being a dick and what was Slade trying to take his mind of having to tell people about what happened on Lian Yu.

"I'd take a seat," Slade said, slipping his butt onto the table, "this is a long story," He turned back to Oliver, "I'd recommend the short basic edition."

Oliver nodded, giving Slade a smile with worry in his eyes and pulling at his lips.

Slade rubbed Oliver's back gently and left his hand there as they started their little story.

"Okay children, story time," Slade said.

Oliver shook his head at the older man.

And thus Slade and Oliver told Felicity and Diggle what happened; they covered their own side of the story, missing out certain moments like Oliver's father's death and Billy Wintergreen actions (telling the two that he had simply died in the plane wreck, for the time being anyway). Oliver also loosely covered the ship wreck. They told the two about their plan to leave on the supply plan, which failed (Slade said that it did not work before Oliver had a chance to take the blame, he knew Slade did not blame him for it), the mercenaries and Fyers. His life with Yao Fei, meeting Slade, meeting Shado, and Yao Fei's betrayal. Saving Yao Fei and getting away, hiding in the forest for the next couple of years; constantly moving and sometimes living in two separate groups for a night or two depending on the situation. The strong bond they had all built up meant that they all got on and cared for each other, with some favouritism between Yao Fei and Shado, and between Slade and Oliver, for what should have been obvious.

Finally they came to the end of their story; quickly covering the finding of the leader of the Solntsevskaya Bratva of Russia and the tattoo that he had given Oliver to symbolise his thanks (which is when they remembered Oliver's archer tattoo and explained that as well), along with the escape of the Island, Oliver being left behind, and his rescue later on.

"Wait," Diggle said, holding his hands up to signal a halt in conversation, "How did you get left behind exactly?" Diggle asked Oliver.

Oliver was about to continue with his "I got side-tracked" excuse, when Slade cut in.

"A group had seen who I was and I needed to get them away so they couldn't tell others before I took them down, else we would have been found out and killed on the plane," Slade explained. "I took the fight away, not knowing Oliver had followed far behind me to make sure I got back. I then took another plane," Slade looked over at Oliver, "I'm sorry," he said. Oliver could tell that the older man was being sincere by that sad look in those dark eyes, turned black by the low lighting. Slade then looked away, that was weird.

"It's not your fault," Oliver said, smiling as Slade looked at him from the corner of his eye, giving his own small smile before looking away again. Oliver frowned, he had a feeling that this was not the only thing Slade was feeling guilty about from the way the older man had stopped looking at him, but Oliver had no idea what else it could be. What had Slade done?

Looking back at Diggle and Felicity, he spotted the metal poles he and Diggle had trained with, just as he had done with Slade and the bamboo back on Lian Yu. He stood, making his way towards them. "That's the story," he said as he picked up the four poles, two balanced in each hand. "Any questions?" Oliver asked. He spotted Slade's grin, the two had developed quite a knack for reading each other's actions, almost as if they could read each other's thoughts.

Diggle and Felicity looked at each other. Felicity raised a hand.

Oliver cocked a brow at her action, "Yes?"

"Want to order a pizza?" she asked.

Slade laughed lightly. "I second that," he said, "Loving the women in your life Oliver," he looked over at Diggle, "No offence."

Diggle just stared at him, not yet really knowing what to make of the man. The night was only just beginning, it wasn't even dark yet considering it was spring and food was a good idea, after all, the group did usually eat while they met up, which had now become pretty much every night. The corners of his lips pulled lightly, this should give him some time to get to know a little more about this Slade guy.

Diggle then realised something, "Women?" he looked over to Oliver, who he had quickly learned had limited lying capabilities; he could lie when it was planned in advance and thankfully he always planned for likely situations, but if caught red handed his lies were vaguely detailed or just plain unbelievable.

Oliver took a sharp breath, jaw clenched, not because of what Diggle had asked, but because Oliver now realised that he would have to come up with a story to explain how he knew and dated Slade that did not involve the Island. "Thea saw us together," Oliver said, "I'm going to have to think of a story of how we met," he knitted his eyebrows together.

"We'll think of something," Slade said, smirk wide on his face. He held out a hand for his poles.

Oliver smiled, happy that Slade was going to help him. The older man had always been an amazing liar; Oliver could remember all the times Slade had convinced Shado or Oliver that something ridiculous was true. Slade would later tell Oliver that he was joking but he never did the same for Shado, letting her figure out she had been duped on her own. Most of the time she did, some however she still did not know were lies. She still thought to this day that some of the things Slade told her were true, the kind of lies that, when you really think about it, it should have been obvious that they were lies, which were just the worst kind. Yao Fei was different. He would listen to Slade, cock a brow and just carry on. Whether Yao Fei had actually ever believed Slade, Oliver was completely unsure

As nice as what Slade had said was, there was still that smirk that suggested he had a plan of some sort. The same one he had plastered on his face before he had started that prank with Shado and the ducks. It was one of the funniest moments of Oliver's life and every single time he remembered that moment he just had to laugh. Not just because of what happened but because it was the first and last time (for Shado anyway, Oliver was not so lucky) that Yao Fei had backed Slade up and made it worse.

Oliver gave Slade his poles. "Any suggestions?" he asked, grinning at his boyfriend.

"Well, since you asked," Slade said, testing the poles and trying to act casual, though clearly not trying very hard.

"Yes?" Oliver's grin grew.

"We should spar and each time a person gets pinned they have to come up with a piece of information about our relationship," he explained, readying the poles. "By the end we should have a full story."

Oliver thought about it; it was a good idea and fun. Oliver smirked. "Okay," he said, rolling his shoulders in preparation. "You're on."

With the pizzas ordered, Diggle and Felicity sat to watch the sparring match. The two men had yet to start, they were still stretching, which Felicity had to admit she was really enjoying; Slade had stripped down to a black vest while Oliver, who had only been wearing a shirt, decided to go bare. They had seen Oliver's scars before and were unsurprised to see the scar on Slade's bicep, there were likely to be more hidden under his clothes. What did surprise the two however were the marks that covered the two men's necks, Oliver especially. Yes, they had both guessed he had bite marks considering the scarf he was wearing and the bruise on his bottom lip that he kept prodding with his tongue while Slade was talking during "story time", as if he was trying to stop it from healing. Even so, the sheer number and size of the marks were stupidly noticeable.

Slade cracked his neck, giving a relaxing "Ahh" as it gave a satisfying pop. He turned to look at Oliver and as if the man sensed it he turned to look at Slade. He nodded and Slade smiled.

The spar started with a simple tap here, tap there routine, metal poles clanging as they connected. It quickly became a fight; Slade struck forward, Oliver blocked, knocking one of Slade's poles off to the side before going in for his own strike with plans to pin Slade's poles while the older man was distracted, but Slade was far too quick and swung his poles inwards forcing Oliver's poles together before locking Oliver's poles between his own. He smirked.

Diggle and Felicity watched in amazement, the whole thing had taken less than ten seconds.

"Damn," Felicity said, mouth hanging open and not entirely sure what just happened.

"Okay." Oliver said, pulling his poles out of their trap, Slade let him. "We met..." he thought for a few seconds, "On the street," Oliver smiled, "It was your first time in the city, so I helped you find where you were going. We talked along the way."

Slade nodded. "Okay," he said but then pulled his brows together. "Where was I going?" He pointed out, "Where were you going?"

Oliver wanted to glare at the older man for picking holes in his story but instead he grinned and said, "That's for you to decide."

Slade grinned. About thirty seconds later he frowned, Oliver had pinned his poles; crossing both his poles and wrists. He had to admit however hat he was feeling prideful. He smirked, "I was going to a supermarket. You were skipping college."

Oliver did not even dignify that with a reply, he did however give a smirk. It was believable. Oliver did like the idea of them knowing each other before the Island because that meant they would have known each other for longer, it would explain their close friendship.

Slade was pinned again but he did not mind, he had a good idea.

"I was on leave. I was going to be for a while due to injury," Slade said pointing with the top of the pole at the bullet wound on his bicep. "I decided to visit America. I had done before but stayed away from the cities, never really liked them. I chose to give it a go."

Oliver nodded, Starling City was a city but not exactly huge like New York or Vegas.

Slade had thought about a possible cover for him spending so much time with a young (er) Oliver while he was putting on clean clothes in a hotel he had booked for two weeks, the younger man had been talking to him about general stuff when he mentioned that he let slip to his family that he could speak Russian.

"I like to keep busy so I volunteered to teach Mandarin and Russian," Slade continued, adding the Mandarin just in case Oliver ever let a few words slip around his family. "When I told you this you asked for a lesson in Russian to impress a female exchange student."

Oliver nodded, grinning. Now that was a good idea. Also seeing as Tommy would know (at some point) he could back Oliver up.

The information giving went pretty much back and forth, each little "match" taking no longer than a minute, seeing as losing only meant getting your poles pinned. They were about equal with wins, and in a real fight it would have most likely been the same. One was younger, one was more experienced, but neither of these points seemed to matter, the two men were equals. They may have been masters of different weapons but they knew each other perfectly; their weak spots such as the marks left by arrows, bullets and knifes, how to weaken the other's weapon by making them fire one too many arrows or hit their sword against an unforgiving surface, what moves they favoured and what secret weapons they hid. The two had never fought to the death, if they had Slade would have most likely won but if there was one person on this earth who had the ability and the know-how to kill Slade it was definitely Oliver.

The spar ended when a young male voice came through the speaker, signalling the arrival of the pizza.

Slade smiled at Oliver, pointing the poles down. Oliver did the same. They bowed; a sign of respect and trust.

Diggle went to get the pizza but Felicity stayed down to get some drinks and towels, hot sweaty men need towels. She smiled as Oliver walk towards Slade and kissed him. Don't get her wrong, she did like Oliver, he was a great guy, but she knew he belonged with this man, it was clear even when you didn't know of their past together. The love was clear.

* * *

The two men made their way to the men's bathroom to clean themselves of sweat. It was something they always did after training sessions although back on the Island it had been a lot colder due to the geographic location, so they would have do it while their bodies were still warm.

Walking around the bar to get to the bathroom, Oliver spotted Diggle walking back inside with two large boxes of fresh pizza. "Back in a bit," he called, "Just gonna wash up."

"Alright," Diggle called back, his dark eyes sharp. He was a little more yet also a little less wary of the Australian; more because the guy could clearly fight and had been though the same things as Oliver, more so even, which meant he could fight and kill all of them. Diggle had a feeling he had really been holding back, even if the sparring match had looked like a real fight. However, Oliver knew how the guy worked; knew how to catch him out and trap him. The two lived together long enough, Oliver had to know all his weaknesses, but by that logic Slade must have known all of his as well.

Oliver trusted this man and Oliver never trusted anyone, not fully anyway; not his best friend, not Diggle or Felicity, definitely not his family, but this man he trusted. Trust with Oliver was clearly something that was earned over time, a very long time. Diggle just hoped that the whole "brothers"... no, "lovers in arms" thing that brought them together was not just one-sided. Oliver was blind to the truth when it came to the ones he cared about.

* * *

The male bathroom was very fancy considering it was only a night club, but then again, Oliver did have the money for it so why not. The floor was made up of black granite, resembling the night sky with the small white dots, made into the stone to make the tiles sparkle. Strong white lines weaved in-between the tiles, indicating that they were set not that long ago. Slade smirked at the irony, that the only place in this city you could see the stars was on the floor.

The tiles up the wall were granite also, grey this time. Shades of black, brown and white gave the stone a nice aged look. The sections for the line of sinks dipped into the wall, the tiles only continued to just below the large mirror, the rest of the wall was painted cream. The area had a kind of Middle Eastern vibe while the rest of the bathroom was more designer. Overall it was nice.

"So when's the Queen popping round?" Slade asked, looking at the over-thought room. This was a place drunk people went to piss, for God's sake.

"Any day now," Oliver replied, placing the towels next to one sink before turning on the tap, filling his cupped hands full of water and splashing it onto his face. He did so twice before reaching for the one of the crisp white fluffy towels. Oliver jumped when he felt a pair of strong arms wrap around his waist, but then he relaxed. Pulling the towel away from his face he looked into the mirror just in time to see (and feel) his boyfriend kiss the side of his head then his neck, just below the hair line. Oliver leant back, allowing the heat of the older man's muscular arms and chest to engulf him.

"Your fighting has improved greatly," Slade said, lips moving against Oliver's skin, "Your strength has gotten better but you should work more on your speed."

Oliver nodded, smiling as he watched Slade in the mirror. It may have been years since they first met but Oliver still hung onto Slade's every word; smiling at every compliment like it came with a bouquet of red roses, listening to every piece of advice like tomorrow his life would depend on it, and Slade had no doubt that if he had found something to insult the man with he would have taken every single word to heart.

* * *

The three men and the woman all sat together eating pizza. They chatted about a few things, seeing as it was hours before they would head out and they already had all the information they needed. Oliver was supposed to "talk" with Luke Morgan a few days ago but then he went away for a business conference in New York. Luke Morgan, the head of an insurance company in Starling city, was on Oliver's list. Now everyone knows insurance companies will try and get out of paying out claims, money going out is money being lost, but Mr Morgan's company really were the worst. They would accept almost any people for insurance of every kind; they almost seemed like miracle workers, especially for those living down in the glades.

There was one very big issue and that was that they would nearly never or just barely pay out. Luke used to be a lawyer years back and he could find every loop hole in order to stop his company from paying out. He even had his staff lie to customers about what the company covered, even small businesses, and being too poor to fight it they never got their bills paid back. They lied and tricked people, even sending letters to say that the insurance had not been paid when it had been, just to see how much more they could get. Not a single thing could be proven in court to be illegal. So if it could not be fixed legally then it would just have to be fixed illegally.

The conversation was directed towards Slade's fighting abilities at one point, by Diggle. Oliver could tell the man was not overly trusting of his boyfriend but Oliver figured at some point the man would have to start liking him, Slade was a likable guy. Slade saw this too and told Diggle about his swords, throwing knives, daggers and then his guns. That last bit did the trick. Guns went to gun types, their pros and cons, which went to gun training and before you knew it the two were talking about their past experiences.

Oliver looked over to Felicity, who looked back at him. The message was clear.

Boys and their guns.

Felicity smiled at Oliver, she tilted her head to the side, indicating for him to follow as she got up for another glass of water. Oliver followed

"Those two are getting on well," Felicity said, leaning against the sink.

"Yeah," Oliver smiled fondly as the ex-army and navy men chatted.

"Diggle was worried that he was... Well not using you," She quickly realised her words, "he would never use you. I meant, I don't really know that for sure. I meant the person mostly to kill a person would be the person in their bed," she threw her hands into the air, nearly throwing the glass across the room, "Not that he would, and you could protect yourself anyway, not saying that you can't, even if he is a big strong guy. Not that I like him that much! I don't like him at all- I mean I do but not like that I..." she sighed, "I'm going to stop now," she turned around the fill up her glass and hoped that when she turned back this would all be forgotten.

Oliver just cocked a brow at the blonde woman's actions. He was growing used to her ramblings and to be honest they were rather funny at times. Oliver knew it was unlikely, but he hoped she never did this to Slade because the older man would have a hell of a time with her. He'd fake taking offence to what she had said which would only make her panic further and, considering no reaction made her panic like an insane person, the results of Slade being involved would be catastrophic.

"Do you think they could be friends?" she asked, turning back to Oliver.

Oliver grinned, he had to admit she recovered fast; it almost made him want to push her buttons. "I think having us all work together will help."

"Is he going out with you? To," she waved her hand in a circle twice, as if trying to find the right words, "You know," she settled for.

"He said he'd just watch," Oliver said, "So as not to mess up my routine but he will be there to back me up if needed," Oliver then remembered, "Hey, Felicity?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think you could do me a favour?"

"Name it," she smiled, looking at him curious.

"Well, as I said before, Slade and I went on a date last night," he said, trying to think of how to word the next bit.

"I see it went well," She commented.

"Yeah," Oliver said, resisting the urge to pull the scarf to further cover his neck, "Anyway some people saw us. I don't think they knew who I was, but if anything does come up on the internet about me being gay can you..."

She smiled, standing straight like a soldier she said, "I'll tell you and hold them for as long as I can but," she slowed, "I can't hold them forever."

"That's fine," he said and palmed her shoulder. "Do just that," he smiled at her, "For the time being I want to just spend time with him again. With you two also, and Thea," he smiled at the idea, "But if we do get caught out I want the time to tell my mother and Tommy..."

"Oh..." her eyes widened in realisation, "Telling Tommy would mean..."

"Telling Laurel. I know. And her dad," he sighed, "Something I want to try and soften, if at all possible."

Felicity nodded, "It's going to be a major shit storm."

"Yeah," Oliver could not deny that one. Cheating on Laurel was bad, cheating with her sister was worse, having that lead to said sister's death was much worse, and then saying that he had never been attracted to her or her sister in the first place... Oliver was fucked.

"So, how obvious were you two?"

"Well, we went on a date at this Italian place."

"Sounds romantic."

Oliver listed off as many things as he could think of: walking down the streets, clearly together, their date, their kisses in front of the girls.

"Wow," Felicity laughed lightly, "He's a daring one, isn't he."

Oliver grinned, looking over at his boyfriend, "You don't even know the worst of it."

"What?" Felicity stood in front of Oliver, he wasn't going to get away with withholding gossip from her.

Oliver smirked, "We both speak Mandarin and he started talking dirty to me out loud in the middle of the restaurant."

The blonde looked shocked, then she realised they must have been speaking in Mandarin, but it was still pretty shocking. "How bad?"

"Not graphic, still bad, but that was not the worst part," he smiled. He felt slightly embarrassed talking about this, but at the same time it felt very natural, especially with someone as understanding and non-judgemental as Felicity.

"One of the waitresses heard and understood what we were saying."

"Oh my God!" Felicity covered her eyes with her hand, and laughed. "That's so bad."

Oliver chuckled, surprisingly not red faced like he thought he would be.

"What are you two laughing at?" Diggle asked.

Slade cocked his own brow, taking a bite from a pizza slice.

Felicity tried to suppress her growing giggles as Oliver tried to think of something funny, there was no way in hell he was telling Diggle what he had just told the blonde IT lady. Maybe it was the fact that Slade was back, but the first thing he thought of was the moment with Shado and the ducks. The mixture of already being in a humorous mood and the memory of that moment made Oliver laugh.

Felicity cocked a brow which could not be seen, covered by her pink glasses frames, but the facial expression was clear. Not that Oliver could see it anyway, seeing as he was facing the floor.

"Remember the time with Shado and the ducks?" Oliver asked in Slade's general direction.

Slade looked away for a second or two before remembering. Where any normal person would have laughed and clamped their hand over their mouth so that they did not almost cough up their food, Slade, in his usual suave way, swallowed his mouth full, placed the rest of the slice on the table and said, "That was funny."

Felicity and Oliver returned to the table so that Slade could explain what happened, Oliver having said he had yet to get to the part with Yao Fei. Slade smirked at that.

"Now I'm by no means a practical joker," Slade started and Oliver let him have that. Diggle and Felicity would figure it out on their own one day.

"But one day I was out training with Oliver and Shado came along where afterwards we would teach Oliver how to hunt. We decided to move further out and that's where we came across," he paused for a second, "well it wasn't really a pond, more of a ditch that filled with water after a good amount of rain. Then again it did rain a lot, so it was pretty much there most of the year anyway," Slade smirked. "There were a load of duck's hanging around and Shado wondered if she could get them to come over. I told her she had the best chance seeing as she was female, that animals general felt safer around females, as they seemed less threatening. She believed it."

Oliver smiled, remembering how he pretended to be occupied with making arrows with his back to Shado, just in case she looked his way. He remembered it just kept getting funnier and he was having one of those "when you can't laugh it just makes it funnier and you want to laugh harder" moments. Slade had even thrown his scarf at Oliver so that he could hold it over his mouth.

"She sat there for a while letting the birds just go about their business, but every time she got closer they moved away. I told her that she should try talking to them and she did," Slade smirked, chuckling lightly. "Oliver here just about kept it together," he said, pointing at the younger man.

"No comment."

The Australian smiled before continuing, "She really went for it, determined that she could get them to come to her. I told her to tell them nice things, like a story. Animals can sense emotions so talking about something happy would make you happy and they would sense that," Slade grinned, remembering what happened next, "I knew I was pushing it but then Yao Fei showed up and he said she should try singing to them and she did. She really went for it," he laughed. "Oliver was dead to the world and I barely hung on. She kept singing until a few flew away and," he stopped to chuckle, "she froze. She turned around and yelled; 'You Bastard!'"

Oliver laughed. The look on her face had been just priceless. He remembered Slade had leant over, grabbing his stomach, and he had looked back just in time to dodge Shado who was coming over to punch him. Aside from being funny, it was the first time Oliver had thought of them as a family. Yao Fei and Shado only had each other, Slade had no family, and Oliver had lost one member and was likely considered dead by his mother and sister. The four of them just seemed to join together, first in a kind of brothers (and sister) in arms way, and then they became a family.

Diggle chuckled and Felicity giggled.

It was always funnier when you were there.

* * *

"What's your plan, Hood?" Slade asked into the chilly night air. He smiled as he made out a few stars. He sat on a bus bench, out of sight of traffic cameras (got to love that paranoia) and within sprinting distance was the building that contained the office of one Luke Morgan.

_"Window left open,"_ the familiar voice spoke from the earpiece, _"Fifth floor, then I'll just work my way up."_

Slade said no more, he guessed the blonde was likely scaling drain pipes and window ledges by this point and he did not want to disturb him.

_"I'm in."_

Slade smiled.

_"Okay,"_ Felicity said, _"There are security guards in the hall ways of the sixth, eighth and ninth floor, but none on the stairs. I've put the security cameras for the stairs on loop. Just head on up."_

"You'll do fine," Slade said before muting the speaker so they would not hear him. "You going to sit down or what?" A moment later Diggle sat next to him.

"You knew I followed you, hm?"

Slade smirked. "I've been trained to. Plus I had a feeling you wanted to talk to me privately."

"What are your intentions?" Diggle asked, getting straight to the point.

"To be with Oliver."

"Okay."

Slade cocked a brow. "That was easy," He turned to Diggle, "Why so trusting?"

"I could tell that you cared for him," Diggle smiled lightly, "Plus I may have only known Oliver since the Island, but I've never seen him this happy about anything."

Slade heart warmed, he ignored the idea that one day Oliver would be that happy for someone else.

"You travelled here as soon as you could?"

"Of course."

Diggle just gave Slade a curious look. "You were part of what was clearly a serious investigation, you were held there all that time, and then they just let you leave?"

"There was a lot of work to be done," Slade looked at him, "What are you getting at anyway?"

"Why didn't you contact him?"

Slade blinked, keeping his poker face.

"You really care for Oliver and I mean really care for him," Diggle smirked, looking out into the night sky. "If I cared for someone the way you do, I would have done the same thing. The first plane I could find, I would be on it. All that I can understand. That maybe you would not contact him before to keep him and his family safe. However," he looked back to the Australian, "you and I both know that journeys back home take time. So why not call him?"

"No time, and you can't use a phone on a plane."

"You didn't see Oliver in your first days in Starling city, you had time then."

Slade paused for a second. How did he know that?

"One night I drove and picked up Thea from the club, Oliver asked," Diggle's smirk grew, "That was two nights before your date with Oliver. I knew there was something not right about you when we met, I could just feel it. First I thought it was just me, but then seeing you walk out at the club, I remembered. I saw you at the club that night."

Slade sighed heavily, looking back at the stars.

"I know you care for him and he needs you."

Slade looked back at Diggle, the man looked dead serious.

"The guy deserves happiness, the kind that you provide."

_"Luke has received his warning,"_ Oliver voice suddenly said in both the men's ears. _"I'm pretty sure I won't have to return."_

Slade clicked his speaker back on. "That was quick," he commented, smiling, "Forget what I said before about working on your speed," he clicked the speaker off again.

_"Thank you."_

Slade's smile grew, imagining the slight smile and shy look on the younger man's face. So cute, when it should have been weird, considering that same cute man was wearing a leather and cotton hooded outfit to hide his identity as a killer. A body that dislocates and breaks bones, snaps necks and was near impossible to kill, wielding his best-used weapon, plenty of arrows, and a bunch of rather creative explosive devices.

"All I ask,"

Slade turned back to Diggle.

"Is that you don't hurt him," The ex-army man said. He stood, "That this is not one-sided."

"Mate," Slade said, standing as well, "I'd rather die."

_"I'll see you two back at the club."_

Diggle's eyebrows knitted together, he looked to the building but saw no hooded figure shaking his head.

Slade looked over as well before smiling proudly, he clicked on his speaker, "Good guess," he clicked it back off. He grinned at Diggle. "I taught him. Remember?"

* * *

"Anyone in?" Oliver called. He stopped himself from grinning at the fact that right now Slade had likely made his way to Oliver's room, having picked the lock of one of the first floor windows.

"Hey Ollie," Thea called back, walking in to see him. "Mum's gone to bed. So..." she grinned at him, "You spent the whole of last night and today with your boyfriend, he sneaking in again tonight?"

He shut the door. "No," a grin pulled at his lips

"You're a bad liar Ollie," she cocked a brow; "You really care for him, don't you?"

Oliver smiled and nodded.

Thea paused. "Do you...?"

Oliver turned away to put his coat on a spare hanger.

"Oh my God," Thea gasped, running over to grab his shoulder and pull him to face her.

Oliver smiled at his sister.

"You love him!" she squealed and wrapped her arms around Oliver, huge smile on her face.

"Yeah," Oliver confirmed, wrapping his arms around Thea. "I love him."

* * *

Oliver knocked on his bedroom door to let Slade know he was coming in, although it would have been funny to see the older man jump. Oliver opened the door to see his boyfriend sitting on the window sill. Boots and Jacket off to fully enjoy the cool night air, he sat with one sock covered foot on the windowsill, the other hanging out the window.

Slade looked at Oliver. "You can see the Stars quite well," he sat straight to make room. "You can even see Jupiter."

Oliver toed his shoes off, "Can you?" he asked. He made his way over and sat in the free space, both legs hanging out the window.

"I don't know. Probably," Slade shrugged.

Oliver glared at him.

Slade chuckled. "You can," he pointed to a cluster of stars, "Just off to the left, slightly orange. That's Jupiter."

"Where you seeing this?" Oliver scanned the sky.

"There are two stars together, below that another two, but far apart, and then an orange one."

Oliver grinned, spotting the orange light. "I see it."

"I think that... Never mind."

"What?" Oliver asked, turning to look at the older man.

"I was about to say that I think I saw a star constellation, but one of the stars flew away," Slade glared at the plane

Oliver laughed.


	9. Meetings and Greetings

It had been three weeks since Slade and Oliver were reunited and over those weeks not much had really changed; Oliver still played his part as the vigilante, trained, ate and slept, the only difference being that Slade was there. Oliver had to admit that he always slept sounder with Slade next to him. Slade had found and started renting an apartment in the Glades. Being both a hard worker and a stickler for saving money, Slade had gathered a small fortune over the years and although the hotel was nice, he had no idea how long he would be looking for a place. The man decided it would be better to just get some temporary, rented apartment until he found something more permanent, rather than pay for another week or two in a hotel.

His apartment was small and only had the most basic furniture, but it was decent. With one bathroom, a kitchen/living room and an archway entrance to the bedroom, the place was just enough for one person. All of Slade's items fit easily, seeing as all of his stuff consisted of a large gym bag. It was much easier to carry around then a suitcase, and contained some clothes, a surprising range of bladed weapons and a box which he had received in the mail a few days ago. The box was small and longer than it was wide, make of rosewood and engraved with what looked like tribal vine and leaf patterns. The box was kept in good condition, which was understandable considering what was inside: Slade's medals from his time in the navy.

Oliver was sat on the simple, dark blue two-person sofa, looking down at the medals that still sat in the box, on the light brown, almost cream, wooden coffee table. Oliver would not dare touch them. He did not know whether the older man would mind if he did but out of respect he chose not to. He knew that they existed and the story behind each one, but seeing them was still a little overwhelming.

"They don't bite," Slade said, fishing two beers out of the fridge.

"I know," Oliver said. He reached out a hand hesitantly and ran a fingertip along the edge of Slade's Cross of Valour. It was the highest medal of bravery in Australia and was by far the greatest medal Slade had ever been awarded. The story behind this medal alone showed how much of a badass Slade really was.

Slade unbuckled his belt to use the buckle to open the beer; placing the cap between the pin and the buckle, he pushed the pin under the cap edge and squeezed the mental pin and buckle together, popping the cap off the green glass bottle with a familiar and much loved clunk. He did the same for the other bottle before doing his belt back up and moving to sit next to Oliver, placing Oliver's bottle on the table and taking a sip from his own.

Oliver went to get his beer when he remembered the small scar on Slade belly, the first of two scars that had earned him the Cross of Valour. He reached out and placed his hand where he knew the mark was. The scar was that of a blade wound, just over an inch long with dots from the stitches along each side. It did not look like much, but the event that caused it was horrific, although unbelievably lucky.

Slade sucked in a breath as the mark was touched. He watched his boyfriend stroke the sensitive area lightly, the grey cotton shirt being the only thing that kept the slender, cool fingers from touching his distorted skin. Not that Oliver ever seemed to mind his marred body. The younger man smiled at each and every scar as if they had stories to tell and, to be fair, they did. Slade smiled at the younger man.

Feeling the older man relax, Oliver looked up to meet those dark brown eyes. His eyes were warm, as were his hands as they cupped Oliver's cheeks.

"Want to stay here tonight?"

Oliver knew he shouldn't. "Yes."

Slade's smile grew and he kissed the younger man. His lips, like the rest of his body, were large, engulfing Oliver in their protective warmth. Unlike his strong body and his rough hair and skin, especially his calloused hands, Slade's lips were the one part of the older man that was soft, feather light instead of hard and heavy. Unless you counted his eyes.

His eyes were both dark and void of all emotion; like two bottomless chasms, dark and empty, seeming endless. No feeling, no fear or joy, anger or sadness, no anything. This was Slade when he killed, and thankfully only then. Thick eyebrows down low, cold glare, muscles tensing in preparation to strike. He still walked, cocked his eyebrows, and smirked with his usual natural swagger; rolling his head to the side and giving his enemy an unimpressed look, if only to mislead them into thinking his cockiness would make him underestimate the situation. Not that it mattered whether or not the Australian did, after all, Slade could become deadly at the drop of a hat. There would be no time to react, to even ponder the possibly of danger. Nothing but black eyes and crimson stained hands.

Slade's eyes could also be bright. In the sun light they shined a dark honey colour, maybe treacle, to Oliver anyway. It could have just been because they seemed to brighten the day, the way a promise of dessert smothered in syrup could when he was a child. Slade's eyes were like windows to his soul. His feelings were so clear; joy, sadness, worry, guilt and one look he constantly gave Oliver, the same look he was giving now.

Slade pulled back for air, gazing into Oliver's eyes.

Oliver looked into Slade's eyes. So amazingly expressive and unbelievably beautiful and Oliver loved that he was the one who got to see Slade like this.

Slade kissed Oliver's forehead; an affectionate gesture Oliver had never experienced before Slade. The older man did it when Oliver was upset or he himself was very happy.

"I love you," Slade said, but he didn't really. His lips moved but there was no sound.

Oliver smiled, seeing the words on Slade's lips, almost forgetting about the lack of sound. Oliver frowned; there was no sound at all. No noisy neighbours, no car horns, no sounds from the people on street, not even their own breathing.

"What's going on?" Oliver asked, but no sound came out.

Slade just shrugged, grinning in a playful manner.

Oliver sighed, not that he could hear it or anything. "This is a dream, isn't it?" he asked, a part of him hoping it was not even if that meant that he had lost one of his senses, because knowing Slade had said those words would be enough for Oliver.

Slade nodded.

Oliver blinked and as his eyes opened he found himself in his bed. His heart sank. He frowned and sat up, Oliver was wide-awake; the ease at which he could just sit up brought him to the conclusion that he was not falling asleep anytime soon. He sighed, feeling thankful yet disappointed that he could hear it, having been so happy to see Slade say those words and the whole thing had never been real. He liked his dreams of Slade, having been bombarded with them on his nights on the Island, when it was just him and a load of unburied bodies of the enemy. He'd also had one or two every so often; many were happy, some were sad but the feeling was always the same when he awoke to find that he had been dreaming, a feeling of sadness. Sadness that Slade was gone and he knew his first night back that he would never see Slade again. At the time and right now looking back, Oliver was disappointed with himself for giving up so easily. But none of that was important anymore.

Oliver reached over for his phone; he clicked the screen on and squinted as the light burned his eyes. He blinked away the fuzziness so he could see the simple IPhone brand screensaver. He quickly found his pictures, most of which were just test shots from Oliver trying to figure out how it worked as well as a few pictures of Thea and Tommy. After a few seconds he found what he was looking for.

The first picture was of Slade and Oliver kissing. Slade's hand was in Oliver's hair while Oliver had his arms wrapped around Slade's ribs. Oliver had asked Felicity to take a picture of them together if she got the chance. He remembered winking at her before he asked his boyfriend for a kiss before he left and, of course, how could Slade disagree to that. Having heard the beep and seen the phone, Slade had just shook his head, but Oliver could tell from the slight twitch at the corner of his lips that he was happy that the picture existed.

Oliver smiled, missing those lips upon his own. He just stared at the picture for a long while, the strong light making his eyes dry out and sting.

He flicked onto the last and only other picture he had of Slade. It was the picture Oliver had taken for Slade's screen saver if he were to call; Slade sitting on his blue sofa, feet propped up and crossed on his coffee table. He wore a white cotton vest, his crumpled black dress shirt pooled around his hips, his strong arms crossed over his chest, showing off his amazing and unbearably arousing large muscles. He wore the usual pair of lace-up leather boots over a pair of skin tight grey cargo pants, just like the ones he had worn on the Island, the cargo pants clinging to his muscular legs and area between his legs. Oliver could not help but stare at that, telling himself he was just admiring Slade's dark hemp belt. He'd bought it the day before; a comfortable but durable belt with a simple metal buckle.

Slade was clean-shaven in the picture; something that took years off of him, although Oliver had to admit that he did like Slade's facial hair. It made him look more masculine, but it was nice to see him clean cut now and again. The same went for his hair; he suited his short spiked hair but Oliver remember how the older man had started to let it just grow on the Island. Long, black, wavy, wiry hair, tied back with string, seeing as years without any decent care and the sea air had made his hair thick, knotted and generally uncooperative. Oliver did miss the long wavy hair, the tips of the strands touching his shoulders, but the younger man had to admit it was good to see Slade all clean cut again.

Oliver just looked at the picture, entranced by Slade's perfect, powerful, and severely arousing body. When the screen went dark for the third time Oliver knew he should go back to sleep and he clicked it on one last time, smiling at Slade's grin. When the phone went dark again Oliver placed it back on to the table, slipping fully back under the covers and smiling at the idea that when he went to check his phone for the time in the morning there would be a picture of his boyfriend.

* * *

Oliver yawned as he walked into the kitchen, still dressed in his sleeping clothes; a grey shirt and a pair of white, baggy pyjama bottoms.

Thea smiled at him. "Morning Ollie," she said, a little too happy. She must have had her community service today. Maybe it was because she was helping people or because after her time was done she could have it as a real job, but either way Thea had really taken to giving up her free time to work with Laurel.

"Hey," Oliver walked over and reached into the cupboards to get a glass.

"Did not sleep well, hm?"

Oliver filled the glass with water from the sink. "Not really," he took a sip.

Thea grinned. "Miss your boyfriend?"

"Maybe," he said, taking another sip.

"Aw Ollie, she hugged him from behind, just managing to stop herself from rubbing her cheek on his shirt, seeing as she had no time to reapply her makeup. She pulled away and stood by the side of him, looking up at her stupidly tall brother. "Mum wants to about this mystery lady," she smirked, "by the way."

Oliver sighed. The bite marks had only just healed, what with how large and dark they had been. Oliver had managed to hide them from Tommy, Laurel, even Detective Lance, with the sudden need to wear a scarf, even if summer was getting closer, but his mother and Raisa were not to be fooled. Diggle and Thea had sworn to secrecy for the time being but Oliver could not hide his boyfriend forever, he didn't even want to.

"Introduce Slade," Thea said, moving away to get her handbag.

"What, just like that?" Oliver asked, turning to his sister and cocking a brow.

She shook her head. "No," she picked up her bag, "as a friend. Someone for mom and Raisa to get used to seeing," she looked up at her brother. "No harm in them meeting an old," she rolled her head to the side, grinning, "friend," she said in a teasing manner.

Oliver rolled his eyes. "I swear the only difference between you two is gender and age."

Thea laughed, then an idea hit her. "What's he doing today?"

Oliver crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned back against the counter. "Nothing important to my knowledge," he raised a brow. "Why?"

"Mum and I are going for lunch at one, you could tag along if you want," she pointed out, sounding excited, "then I could get a text that says I have to get back straight away, Slade could be in the area and could give me a lift and bam!" she smiled. "Mom meets Slade. Quick meeting, no time for awkwardness."

Oliver paused for a second, watching his sister. "You just want to ride the motorbike," he accused.

Thea smiled cheekily. "Maybe."

Oliver gave a light smile. "Okay. I'll ask," he said, uncrossing his arms and pushing away from the counter. "And I'll go with you to lunch."

"Okay," she stopped herself from literally jumping for joy. "I can't wait!" She glanced in her handbag to make sure everything was in it before nodding in approval. Walking out the kitchen to get her lift to work, she gave Oliver a light wave. "Remember to tell mum," she called as she walked away.

Oliver sent a quick text to Slade, asking if he was doing anything at around about two. He then took a deep breath and forced himself to go to his mother's study. "Hey, mum, " he called, before he could re-consider.

"Yes?" She called back.

Oliver spotted his mother sitting at her desk, having paused her typing on her laptop. "Mind if I tag along with you and Thea for lunch?"

She paused for a second, a little surprised, and then she smiled "Sure, if you want. Den's at one."

Oliver felt a little wave of sadness; he'd forgotten that was where the two had taken to having lunch. "The place down the road from that bridal store?" he asked, poker face steady.

"Yes. Just before that hotel you and Tommy stayed at for your twenty-first."

Oliver grinned at memory. Two twenty-one year old, rich practically brothers, throwing back pre-drinks before the big night out, although Oliver did not remember much after that. It was one hell of a weekend. Oliver's thoughts were cut off by the vibrating in his back pocket. Fishing the phone from his jeans, he checked his messages.

_I'm free. Why?_

Oliver smiled.

"When am I going to meet her?" Moira asked, leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms.

"In time," Oliver sent back a reply.

_Want to meet my mother? Thea has a plan and she wants to ride of the back of your bike._

"Any time soon?"

Oliver turned back to his mother; she had a light smile on her face. "I just..." Oliver's grip on his phone tightened. "This relationship is very important to me and I want it to last."

She just looked at her son. "And you think I won't like her?"

Oliver thought for a second before he shrugged and simply said, "Yes."

Moira's eyebrows knitted together. She shook her head. "Oliver," she looked him in the eyes "Over the last three weeks you have been more social, gotten more sleep and you're starting to act really happy. The kind of happy you always were before..." she looked away, "What happened," she looked back up at her son. "If she makes you happy, I'll like her," she smiled.

Oliver smiled back. His phone buzzed.

* * *

The mother and her two children sat outside a little café, the light spring breeze pleasantly cool considering today had been rather warm, more so now, seeing as the sun was closer to being at its highest peak. Den's, named after a man who supposedly work there a few years back, was a small café with light brown walls, wooden skirting boards, counters, tables and chairs, and one fern sitting just before the till. Not a very popular place, as the food and drinks cost more because it was a small family business and it was not very out in the open, but its charm, luck, and regulars kept the café going.

Den's had become the place the family would eat at when the father of the family had a break during work. Much like most things Moira and Thea had stopped doing after the disappearance of Robert and Oliver, they had started to do it again since Oliver had returned. Maybe it was the clarification that Robert was definitely dead and Oliver was not and had come back, but the family was little by little coming back together. There were still cracks, but maybe there would always be cracks.

The fresh warm sandwiches went well with a round of cool drinks; ice coffee for the girls and water for Oliver, who was still getting used to all the processed food and drinks he had been away from for five years. Like most things about the Island, it had given him a new perspective; he now chose to eat mostly fresh, healthy food, not just because he was used to it but because he knew it was good for his body and with the active lifestyle he had, a good diet was quite necessary.

Thea just happened to glance at her phone; she picked it up. "Crap," Thea groaned, looking down at the imaginary message. She looked up to see her mother's glare. "Sorry. It's just that I misplaced a folder and no one can find it."

"I can drop you off before work," Moira offered.

Thea sighed sadly. "I need to go in now..." she paused, "doesn't Slade live nearby?" she looked over to Oliver. "You think he could give me a lift?"

She could even lie like Slade, Oliver almost believed her. "I'll call him," he said, pulling out his phone and dialling quickly so that Thea would be the one to handle the explanation.

"Slade?" Moira asked.

"Friend of Oliver's," Thea smiled, "real nice guy."

"You just want to ride his motorbike," Oliver pointed out, "I wouldn't be surprised if you made up that message."

"Shut up," Thea said, skilfully holding off a growl and a glare.

Oliver gave a grin which morphed into a light smile as Slade answered the phone. "Hey. It's Oliver."

_"No shit."_

"No need to be snarky," Oliver said, more amused than anything. "You anywhere near Bridges street?"

_"Yep."_

Oliver could practically feel the grin in the man's voice. "Thea needs to go to work and she can't get a lift in time."

_"When?"_

"Now, if possible," he added, to keep up the look that this was not prearranged.

Slade gave a chuckled down the phone. _"Alright. I'll be outside waiting in about five. Looking forward to the Spanish inquisition from your mother?"_

"Den's, past the bridal store, we'll see you in a bit."

Slade grin likely grew. _"See you soon. Bye."_

"Bye," Oliver ended the call and placed the phone on the table.

"So,"

Oliver looked up to see his mother's grin.

"Slade, hn?"

"You'll really like him," Thea pointed out. "He and Ollie were friends a few years back."

"Yeah, one of my closest friends," Oliver was so thankful for their planned story right now. "I met him years ago. He was in the navy, on leave due to injury. I was going to introduce him but then he had to go back on tour and then well..." Oliver gave a sad smile, "The Queen's Gambit."

Moira gave a nod, looking a little sad at the painful memory, as did Thea.

"You'll like him though," Oliver attempted to change the subject. "He taught me Russian."

"Did he?" Thea asked.

"We had lot of free time, although his teachings were pure evil," Oliver said in Russian, smiling at the memory of Yao Fei, Shado and Slade only talking to him in Russian. It had been annoying at the time but understandably funny, and important to get Oliver to learn the language faster, of course.

"Wow," Moira said, it was impressive after all.

"What does it mean?"

"Basically; yes he did teach me," Oliver stood. "He said he'd be out front in five, so we should go."

The family went outside so Thea could get her "emergency" lift; Oliver left his coat on his seat so the staff would know that they were coming back. After a few minutes, during every second of which Thea was prodding Oliver to say more things in Russian, a motorbike pulled up in front of the family. The bike was large and very powerful looking, this was something Slade would always pay good money for; it was all black, including the leather seating, the only other colourings being the silver steel of the exhaust and the vibrant red writing just above the front wheel that stated the vehicle's make.

Slade wore a pair of black jeans, protective gloves, a leather jacket, this one thicker than his usual in case he fell or was pushed off as Slade was always prepared for danger. Lastly, he wore a dark helmet with tinted glass which he pulled off once he stopped and got off the bike, placing the helmet on the fuel tank which sat between the seat and the handlebars, having moved down the metal balance stand to keep the bike upright.

"Beautiful," Thea sighed happily.

"Why thank you," Slade held a hand over his heart, making his way around the bike to stand in front of the family. At Thea's glare he turned back to the bike. "These things are more fun to drive back in Australian, a lot more space, but this city is a nice challenge." Upon turning back around he spotted Moira. "Madam," he bowed his head, "I take it that you must be Moira," he removed his glove before holding out his hand. "It's a pleasure."

Moira was a little overwhelmed but the suddenness of this man's existence, but she shook his hand. "Slade, I take it?"

Slade nodded. "Yeah," he smiled, "It's nice to meet you but I have to get Thea to work. Sorry for having to cut this meeting short."

Moira smiled back. Slade was very polite and her children seemed know him quite well, although her mothering instincts still told her to be wary. "It was nice to meet you too." An idea formed in her head, she smiled, "What are you doing for Dinner tonight?"

Slade was surprised. "Eating at home I guess, why?"

"You are welcome to join us for dinner. Eight o'clock."

"Sounds wonderful," he smiled, he had a feeling this was either going to go very well or very badly. "I'll get directions from Oliver," he pointed out, just in case the two siblings got their observant nature from their mother. Slade turned to Oliver and gave a light smile, the kind that he reserved for his boyfriend and Oliver smiled back. Slade then turned to Thea, "Ready?" he asked.

"Yes," she looked up at Slade, whereas before she had been looking at the bike nervously.

"If you don't want to..."

"I want to!" she blurted.

Slade shook his head, letting out a light chuckle. "Alright, alright," he held his hands up in surrender. Slade turned around and took the spare helmet that was strapped to his motorbike, he held it out to her and she took it. "Just pull it on," he mimed pulling the helmet down. When she did so, Slade reached out and pulled the helmet down to make sure it had gone all the way. Pleased, he asked, "Comfortable?" to which he received a nod.

Slade took his glove from the leather seat and pulled it on as he walked around the bike, seeing as how the stand it stood on was on the other side. He kicked the metal stand back, holding the handles to keep the bike standing; he climbed on, keeping his legs on the floor to keep the bike upright.

Thea stood there for a minute, looking at the bike as if it were a nine foot fence someone had told her she had to vault over.

Slade smirked and held out an arm like he was going in for a one armed hug, making a 'come here' gesture with his fingers. Once Thea was standing next to him, he wrapped an arm around her hip. "Hold on to my shoulder," Slade told her and once she had a good grip he lifted her up. Turning his body, he placed her on the seat; thankfully, she had seen what he was doing and moved her legs around the bike instead of letting them get trapped under herself. "You good?" he asked.

Thea gave him a double thumbs-up. Slade could tell she was still nervous, but he could also tell that she was a brave one.

Slade smiled at Thea, then he turned to Moira, "She'll be fine," and finally he turned to Oliver. "I'll see you later," he smiled.

Oliver smiled. "See you later."

Slade's smile grew. He took the helmet from where it balanced on the fuel tank and pulled it on, his strong legs keeping the bike still, the same way his arms had lifted Thea with ease, never shaking.

The bike growled as it came to life, sounding low and gravelly like it's master, a warning of its quick and powerful nature.

Slade tapped one of Thea's arms with his index and middle fingers. She seemed to understand what he meant because in the next second Thea had wrapped her arms around Slade's middle, keeping a tight grip of the front of his jacket and her legs around the bike. Slade smiled under the helmet and not long after, the pair were whizzing off into the distance.

Oliver smiled, watching as his boyfriend went off with his sister. Oliver's smile turned into a frown, remembering when he had done that with Sara. He had just wanted to end his Relationship with Laurel without having to explain why, and being a man whore was a good cover. He'd never meant to kill her. Oliver mentally shook his head before putting on his best smile, getting it on his second attempt, and turning back to his mother. "Thank you for inviting Slade to dinner."

Moira pulled her eyes away from where the bike had shot off to, not that she could see it anymore, anyway. "He is a friend of yours, and Thea's too, it seems."

Oliver gave a light laugh. "Thea was a little unsure at the beginning but those two are carbon copies of each other, it was only a matter of time."

Moira looked at her son questionably. "Really?"

Oliver nodded. "Complete clones. Slade is very polite, but get to know him more and you'll see the two have the same attitude."

* * *

Slade and Thea both knew that the text message had been made up, but when they got to their destination, Thea realised that she still had a half an hour free with nothing to do.

"Ah, best laid plans and all that."

Thea cocked a brow at the Australian.

"To endure the winter's sleety dribble and hoar-frost cold. But little mouse, you are not alone, in proving foresight may be vain: The best laid schemes of mice and men go often awry."

Thea paused for a second in thought. "You can't get everything right?" she asked.

Slade nodded. "And you can't prepare for the unexpected."

Thea snorted. "You should have been a teacher," she gave him her helmet, "you taught Oliver Russian."

Slade cocked a brow and smirked. "Is that your way of saying you want me to teach it to you?"

Thea's eyebrows shot up then she glared at the man. "Mind reader."

"It'll give you something to do anyway," he said, picking his own helmet off from the seat, preferring not to leave the helmets out in the open.

Thea shook her head at the man. "Follow me."

* * *

Laurel and her friend Jamie, who also worked at CNRI, were talking about a case when James, also a lawyer, came into the room.

"Hey," he said in greeting, "Who's the Australian dude with Thea?"

"Who?" Jamie asked, she looked back to Laurel.

Laurel was confused; she stood and went to have a see for herself. Jamie followed, and James lead the way.

The three lawyers arrived at the staff room. It was just a small room, with two brown sofas, a wooden table with a couple of chairs around it and a kitchenette with a coffee machine, a cupboard full of mugs and a sink. Thea and the man sat at the table. He was the kind of man Laurel had always been into; he sat with one foot balanced on his knee, one hand in his lap and the other arm laying on the table, so relaxed and open, oozing confidence. Leather and jeans not really hiding that muscular body of his, with the boots and the hair making him look military, and the helmets on the table meant that he had a motorbike. He was older, forty maybe but he didn't really look it, dark hair and eyes and tanned skin. All in all, he was a sexy badass, with a deep, almost coarse Australian accent speaking what could have been Russian, maybe... Okay, now Laurel wasn't saying she was expert of languages or anything, but the Australian accent made the Russian sound weird - sexy, but weird.

Thea repeated the phrase Slade had just said, although her words were slow and spaced apart, trying to get used to the words. Slade repeated the phrase, then Thea did too. This time she just said the sentence, getting confused and messing up the last word, but she quickly re-said the word, getting it right.

"Impressive," Laurel said, drawing their eyes towards her. "Who's your friend?" she asked, looking at the Aussie.

"Slade," he said, holding up his hand in a motionless wave.

Laurel gave a light smile. "Nice to meet you."

"Mum had to go to work early," Thea explained, "Slade gave me a lift," she gave a huge smile, her white teeth showing. "He's teaching me Russian," she said, sounding ecstatic.

"Soon you and Oliver will be able to have your own little language," Slade gave a warm smile. He was no real fan of teaching, but he liked Thea and he knew his boyfriend would likely enjoy his sister's new talent.

"Wait," Laurel said, eyebrows low almost like she was glaring, she held up her hands to signal a pause in the conversation, "Oliver knows Russian?"

"I taught him years back," Slade said in a nonchalant manner.

Now Laurel was confused. "You knew him years ago?" irritation light, but there in her voice.

"I was in the navy," Slade explained, "I had to leave so we stayed in contact with letters. We did not know if we were going to stay in contact so we never bothered with telling anyone, I guess," the man crossed his arms. He was very protective of Oliver, Thea too.

"Okay," Laurel nodded in understanding, "but how come he never brought up the Russian? It seems like something he would show off," she commented.

Slade kept a still face. Who was she? A detective or something? Slade shrugged, "When I was here Oliver and I were close friends and he was not too happy about me leaving. Maybe he just lost interest in the language." Attempting to change the subject, Slade smiled and turned to Thea, "Just be glad I'm not teaching you the same way I did Oliver."

"Why?" Thea asked, leaning forward in interest.

"I had a friend here I was living with, he and I would only talk Russian when Oliver was around, which annoyed Oliver immensely," The Australian grinned. "Just when he was starting to get it, we switched to Mandarin," he gave a light chuckle, "He was not happy."

Thea laughed and lightly punched Slade in the arm. "Dick."

"Funny, your brother said the same thing," Slade said, making a clearly fake intrigued face by raising his eyebrows, however the light pout and the amused look in his eyes was the give-away.

Thea just laughed again.

"Anyway," Slade slapped his thighs, his hands making a dull thump, thump, before he stood. "I should get going. Do you want a lift home after work?"

Thea shot out of her chair. "Yes!" she tucked her hair behind her ear shyly, "If you can, that is..."

"That's fine," he picked up his helmet. "Keep your helmet for now."

Thea nodded, "Slade?"

"Yeah."

"What does _loshad_ mean?" she asked.

Slade's eyebrows lowered, not yet a glare, then he shook his head. "Oliver told you that, hm?"

"What does it mean?" Thea pushed.

Slade sighed. "Horse. Old nickname," he mumbled, so the lawyers couldn't hear.

"Horse?" she whispered.

Slade pointed at his hair, leaning down so Thea could reach.

"Oh my God," she smirked, running her fingers through the wiry hair, "Just like a horse's mane," she giggled, trying to keep her voice low.

"Never talk of this again," Slade warned, which sounded practically light hearted, even in his gravelly voice.

Thea pouted, before giving him a light smile. "Okay," she held up her fist, awaiting a fist bump, "Only because I like you."

Slade smirked and fist bumped her. "I'll see you later."

Thea smiled, then her face turned serious, she stood straight and saluted the man.

Slade resisted shaking his head, instead he stood straight himself and gave a salute back at her, although his was of the British variety, as that was the salute used in Australia. The only difference was that distance between the hand and the face was greater in the Australian salute . After a second Slade dropped the stand, smirking, and ruffled Thea's hair with his free hand. She squeaked. "See ya, kid," he said, turning and leaving the room.

"Yeah, see ya," she growled, fixing her hair, but the lack of malice in her voice and the smile on her face said that she was not angry.

Laurel, Jamie and James watched Slade leave before turning back to Thea.

Thea picked up her helmet. "Need help with anything?" she asked, "And where can I put this?"

* * *

Oliver and Diggle were sitting on a park bench; the blonde sat with his arms hanging limply at his side. His head had fallen back onto the back support of the bench and he had Slade's scarf draped over his head, over all he was exhausted.

"Okay, what did she say exactly?" Diggle asked.

Oliver groaned.

"It can't be that bad," the older man continued.

"She asked if Slade and Thea were dating," Oliver mumbled.

Diggle blinked, a little taken back. "Oh," he said, "What did you say?"

"I froze," the blonde sighed, "So she thinks it's true, I tried to tell her but she thinks I'm lying."

"Well..." Diggle paused, trying to think what Felicity would say. Although she may have seemed haphazard, she was a very intelligent woman and a great advice giver. "At least your mother can get used to the idea of one of her kid's dating a forty year old navy man."

"Great," Oliver said sarcastically.

Then an idea hit Diggle. "You could tell her Slade is gay."

Oliver sat up at that, scarf falling into his lap. "That would work," he said.

"She might even figure out the two of you are dating," Diggle commented.

Oliver nodded, a smile pulling his lips, "Or, more than likely, Slade will just tell her."

Diggle grinned. "Please pass the salt. Oh and I'm dating your son."

Oliver laughed, "Yeah, that sounds about right."

Diggle laughed.

Oliver turned to look at his bodyguard/comrade and not far from being a real friend. After years of only trusting three people, of knowing that everyone else was out to kill him, Oliver found it hard to trust people. Tommy and Thea were trusted straight away, they were his family, but Oliver's mother was hiding things from her son and that made her difficult to trust. For everyone else new and old, trust had to be earned. Minus Slade, Yao Fei and Shado also if Oliver ever saw them again, which Slade said was likely, they were family too. Oliver like Diggle and Felicity, the two were honest, both had a gentle nature and Oliver knew he trusted them to have his back. They were his friends.

Oliver smiled, he was happy to see his friend happy. Since Deadshot's resurfacing Diggle had been in a noticeably low mood, his only real spark of life being the need for revenge. Slade had known of Floyd Lawton from his years in the ASIS; apparently, the "little fucker" had shot an accomplice in a human trafficking ring, having been hired by the leader to stop the man from leaking secrets. The people involved had disbanded, it took three years, but they believed they had finally found and had the evidence to commit the main people involved. However, they would have known for sure and would have got them all sooner had the accomplice not been shot.

"I'll grab him," Slade had said, "You shoot him."

* * *

Slade and Thea arrived at the Queen manor. Dinner would not be for another hour, but it saved Slade from going and coming back later.

Thea slid off the bike before pulling off her helmet, she spotted Diggle's black car. "Oliver's home," she said, "It looks like Diggle is here too. You've met Diggle, right?" she turned to the Australian.

Slade, who had turned off the bike and placed it on its balance stand while Thea had been talking, took off his helmet. "Yes," he said, "Nice bloke."

Thea smiled. "Let's go then. I'd offer you a tour, but I'm pretty sure you already know your way around."

Slade smirked.

* * *

Diggle and Oliver were just in the front room, drinking coffee and chatting about the next person on the list, when they heard the bike pull up. A minute later, the front door opened and there was Slade and Thea.

"Hey," Thea gave a light wave, making her way over to the two men. Slade followed behind her, after he placed their helmets on a table near the front door.

"Hello," Diggle smiled politely, standing to seem more professional.

Oliver stood as well. "Hey," he said, his eyes on Slade and teasing smile on his face.

Slade understood and smiled back. "Hey," he said in a soft voice, walking over to Oliver and giving him a peck on the lips.

"Wh-wha..." Thea was shocked. Swiftly looking at Diggle, she found he was a little surprised but not shocked. "So, you're in the loop?"

Diggle rubbed the back of his neck, this was a little awkward. "Yes," he simply said.

Thea shook her head, looking at Slade, who now stood next to Oliver. "You could have warned... You planned that!"

Slade held a hand over his heart, "I did not." Technically, Oliver did.

Oliver gave a light laugh, as did Diggle, managing to hide the sound, his shaking shoulders and the smile pulling at his lips the only indication of his laughter.

Oliver decided to change the topic. "Enjoy the motorbike?" he asked Thea.

"Oh my God, best thing ever!" she smiled, "I had a bit of time before work so Slade was teaching me Russian."

Oliver slipped his hand into Slade's, entwining their fingers. "Russian, hm?"

"She's doing well," Slade said, giving the hand in his a light squeeze and gazing into those luscious green eyes. He was amazed every time he saw the vibrant blue waves and specks of gold that both blended and stood out in the green orbs. He turned back to Thea, "Say the words I teach you as much as possible, it'll help you remember."

Thea looked back up from the joined hands they hid between their bodies. "I will," she smiled.

The clicking of a pair of heels signalled the arrival of Moira and upon hearing it Oliver pulled his hand away.

Slade was disappointed, but he kept a perfectly straight face, just letting his hand fall down limply at his side.

"Miss Queen," Diggle greeted.

"Ma'am," Slade dipped his head lightly in a bow, looking more like a slow nod.

Diggle cocked a brow and looked at the older man from the corner of his eye.

* * *

Slade and Oliver lay on Slade's bed, naked and covered in honey. The TV and their mobiles were switched off, the phone was unplugged, the door was locked, the blinds were down and the curtains were closed.

"Fuck," Slade said, "This week was insane."

"Yeah," Oliver agreed, crawling onto Slade's chest, wrapping his arms around the older man's ribs.

Slade hugged his lover, resting his chin on the blonde head, and smiled.

Today was Sunday, the last day of the week, one hell of a week. And as with all weeks, to Slade anyway, it started with a Monday: the Monday when Slade had dinner with the Queens.


	10. Monday

Dinner was understandably awkward, for Moira and Oliver anyway. Slade could feel it in the air but kept up telling Thea about all the places he had been, as per her demand.

"Africa?" Thea asked.

"Yes." was all he said.

"Middle East?"

"Yes. A lot."

"You going to tell me what any of these places were like?" she grinned.

"I was busy working," Slade pointed out. "Unless you want to know about the weaponry, I can't help you," he gently stabbed his fork into lamb meat, so as not to scratch the plate, followed by a bit of sweet potato. The meat and vegetable, both of which had a light covering of gravy, made the man smile as it touched his tongue; the taste was just the right mixture of flavours. Then again, his giddy nature could have been from being sat between two of his favourite people, one of which had his foot pressed close to Slade's, in apology for snatching his hand back earlier.

"Why were you there?" she asked. "In," she rolled her wrist in a circular movement, as if somehow, magically the word would appear "all those places?"

Slade placed his fork down, expecting the conversation would last a while. "It's all political, most of which-"

Before he could say "I can't tell you", Thea said "Is classified," she grinned, sounding excited with a look of amusement in her eyes.

"Kinda," Slade smirked at her.

"Just admit it."

Slade looked raised a brow at that.

"You're a spy."

Oliver paused in his chewing, very near almost choking. Thea was not far off.

Slade chuckled lightly before saying "Kinda," grinning in a manner that let her know he was clearly joking. Thank the Gods that Slade could act.

"More a ninja," Oliver said, "Given your obsession with the whole asian culture."

"Maybe I just like black," Slade smiled "It is slimming." Those words just sounded plain wrong in his deep, rough voice.

"You would look fabulous," Oliver grinned.

Thea faked a grimace at the sudden mental image. "God, you in skinny jeans would just look weird," she said, holding a hand up to Slade, her beaded bracelets sliding down her arm.

Oliver smirked at that. "What did you say when you first saw Slade?"

"I don't remember," Thea said, turning away and taking a large gulp of water from her glass.

"Yeah, you do," Oliver's smirk grew.

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

Slade said nothing, just leaned in his chair and turned his head side to side, as if he was watching a tennis match, as the two siblings spoke between themselves. Moira, who Slade could not help but remember was still there, sat watching as well.

"Something about a nice ass?"

Slade cocked a brow, looking at the youngest Queen.

"Wha- No!" Thea stammered, "I did not!" She pointed at Slade, "I did not," she then glared at her brother. The look in his eyes said that he would go on so she sighed. "I said that you were good looking," she said, looking Slade in the eyes, her head held high.

"I'm pretty sure the sentence was 'Oh God was he good looking'," Oliver gasped dramatically. Oliver looked over to his mother, who just watched the scene unfold, food completely forgotten. "No wonder mum thought you two were dating," he commented.

"What?" the two said at the same time. Thea had a deadpan expression while Slade looked more amused than anything.

Thea looked at her mother. "Why would you think that?"

"You seemed very close," Moira said, sitting back and trying hard to resist the urge to pull her sleeves over her hands much like her daughter did when she was uncomfortable. "So you're not?" she asked, looking at her daughter, then Slade.

"I'm gay," Slade said, without even a flicker of embarrassment or worry.

"Oh," Moira said. What else could she really say? "That's... Unexpected," she smiled, still feeling a little awkward.

"You see," said Thea, "he'd more likely go for Oliver then me," she pointed out.

Oliver, realising this was revenge for before, placed his forehead on the table, hoping that his mother would believe his actions were more from embarrassment then stopping her from seeing the truth in his eyes, that he and Slade were more than just friends.

"Trying to get the image out of your head?" Slade asked, grin pulling at his lips. Under the table Slade grasped Oliver's hand gently from where it lay on his thigh.

"Oh God," Oliver covered his eyes with his spare hand. Who said he could not act just as well as the dark haired pair?

Slade gave a grin, his 'planning evil plans of evilness' grin, dubbed unsurprisingly so by Felicity. "Come on honey, it's not that bad," he said in a teasing manner.

Slade did not need to put emphasis on the word honey, the joke "we're in a relationship" was clear from simply saying the word. Thea and Moira would laugh, Oliver would give a malice free glare and that would be that. However Slade had said honey, not babe, darling, sweetheart or any of the obviously cute nicknames that could be used for the joke. The only time Slade ever called Oliver honey was back on the Island, when he was hinting that tonight he would like to fill Oliver with the thick golden liquid and so on...

Oliver's face flushed red, he sat up straight "How is it that I was on an Island for five years and you're the socially inept one?"

Slade smiled, loving how flustered he had made the younger man. "It was worth it to see that face."

Oliver couldn't help but laugh at that. "You dick," he said, reaching forward to grab the older man.

Slade grabbed hold of his wrists, holding him in place. He chuckled, just as he had the first day they had met when Oliver had punched him after getting out of that chair. Oliver had always been the most fun to annoy; he tried so hard to stay calm but you knew when something was getting to him because his left eyebrow would angrier he got the more it twitched, until he lost it. But Oliver was smart and when he lost it his face would go completely still like he was planning something, which around Slade was likely a good idea.

Oliver attempted to get loose for a second before he started laughing, near hiccupping from the rush of laughter. It only lasted for a couple of seconds before he let his head fall forward onto Slade's chest, his shoulders still shaking. "This," he said, pausing to catch his breath, "This is why I've missed you," Oliver smiled. Oliver leaned back into his seat, Slade thankfully letting go of his wrists as he did so. He placed a hand over his eyes again, feeling the heat radiating offhis face. The blonde chuckled lightly, not sure that he should be or why he still was, but he couldn't help it.

"Inside joke."

Slade's voice made Oliver notice the silence in the room. Oliver removed his hand to see his mother looking at him with wide turned to his sister who was smiling, looking a little confused and taken back by the whole thing, but smiling none the less.

"Sorry," Oliver said, feeling a little embarrassed.

"No," Moira smiled lightly, "It's good to hear you laughing," her smile grew.

Oliver looked away and ran his hand through his short hair, willing the heat in his face and the embarrassment that caused it away. He felt Slade stroke the top of his hand under the table, an oddly gentle movement, an apology in case he had pushed it too far. His face, Oliver knew would be completely unmoving to keep up the ruse, but he was sorry. Oliver linked their fingers, squeezing the large tanned hand in his.

"Best eat your food or it will go cold, honey."

"Keep calling me that and I will punch you."

Slade chuckled and stroked Oliver's hand slowly with his thumb.

* * *

Slade made his way back into the sitting room (having left to use the bath room), to find the two Queen siblings sitting on one of the sofas; Thea was pointing at a range of DVDs spread across the coffee table, which Oliver looked a little annoyed by.

"Dare I ask?" Slade asked Moira as she came towards him, offering an open beer. "Thank you," he added, taking the green glass bottle with a light smile.

"You're welcome," she said, sounding a lot less tense than before now that she had gotten used to the man's presence. He was a nice man, a little mysterious, but her children certainly thought the world of him. Moira was not a stupid woman, she knew he was acting differently around her, softer and more polite then he likely was in reality, but Oliver and Thea did shine light on his coarse outside, showing bits of his hidden personality. A more sarcastic and crass person, that did care for the siblings in his own little way and that's all Moira could really ask for when it came down to it.

"Thea is once again attempting to catch Oliver up on the pop culture he has missed," Moira continued, looking at her two children fondly, eyes catching on Oliver. She was still in shock that he had laughed like that, she had not heard her son laugh so openly and with genuine joy in years and oh, did it warm her heart so. Maybe that was why she had welcomed this man to stay the night, maybe be he could guide Oliver just that little further out of his shell, maybe...

"You wouldn't happen to know who Oliver is seeing, would you?" She asked.

Slade's beer stilled in place, a few inches from his full lips. "Oliver told you?" he smiled, his bright white teeth on display. "That's good to hear. And yes I do but I don't really think Oliver would want me to tell you. Not right now anyway," he added, before taking a swig of his beer

"Is she good for him?" she asked.

Slade did not know how to answer that. His smile fell and he thought about what to say for a second before answering. "Honestly..." he turned his head to watch Oliver and his sister, the latter of which did not look like she was going to let her brother go anytime soon. "I hope so. It's hard to say," he turned back to Moira, "I do know however, that she would never mean to hurt Oliver, she loves him more than anything," he smiled reassuringly.

Moira nodded, it was the most she had gotten out of anyone about the mysterious woman, but she had one more question. "Does he love her?" she asked.

Slade kept his face still in a smile, even if inside he felt like his organs were slowly rotting into nothing but putrid slosh. "I like to think so, yes." Even if Oliver did, in time he would come to realise that was a mistake.

Moira looked into Slade's dark eyes with an unexplainable emotion before nodding, as if finally understanding something. The light frown that pulled at her lips said it was not something good.

Now Slade was the one in the dark. "Something on your mind?" he asked.

"Nothing to worry about," she said.

Slade did not push the subject, even if it did leave him wondering. Instead he made his way over to the two siblings. "Hey," he greeted the pair, taking a seat on the sofa next to the one they were sat on. He didn't say anymore, figuring the pair would likely drag him into the conversation.

"Slade, please make Oliver social," Thea pleaded, throwing her arms up in frustration.

"Lost cause I'm afraid," Slade told her and took a sip from his beer.

"Funny," Oliver mumbled, eyes still scanning over the DVD collection.

"What do you think Oliver would enjoy?" Thea asked, raising her hand up to the DVDs.

"The blind leading the blind," Oliver commented.

"True," Slade grinned and turned to Thea. "I'm about a year behind him," he said, waving a hand in Oliver direction.

"How?" Thea asked, looking down at the carpet, eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "He," Thea started, pointing at her brother, "has an excuse. What have you been up to?"

"Being a spy takes its toll," Slade gave a sad sigh.

"No wonder you're not in the navy anymore, it sounds like a total bitch." Thea commented.

"You're not in the navy anymore?" Moira asked, taking a seat on one of the large cushioned chairs.

Slade nodded. "The last few years were, as you Americans say; A total bitch."

Thea grinned.

"You two should just go to the beach," Slade commented, waving his beer from Oliver to Thea, "a bit of bonding."

"Now that's an idea!" Thea gave her large Cheshire cat, 'I've got you trapped' grin at her less than amused brother.

"He's Australian. That's his answer for everything," Oliver pointed out, attempting to throw the idea out the window, but he knew there would be indestructible glass waiting there to take every hit, in the form two dark haired pains in the ass. "Got a broken leg? Go to the beach. Bit by a shark?" he exaggerated, "Go to the beach. Just found out you have a STD? Go to the beach."

"I'm not sure about the first two but the third could be true. If you have crabs, they'll want to go home," Slade said with a completely straight face.

Moira shook her head, a smile pulling at her lips.

Oliver glared at his boyfriend. It was like the last few moments in a game of chess, there were only so many moves Oliver could make, but it didn't matter because either way he was going to lose.

Thea laughed hard, leaning back into the sofa and grabbing her belly with one hand from the sudden stitch that was pulling at her muscles.

"Okay Oliver, I'll give you a deal," Slade offered, raising his palm up as if the deal was sitting invisible on his hand. "You don't have to go and we'll never bring it up again."

Oliver cocked a brow.

"There's a large mirror in the bathroom," Slade said. "If the skin of your arm is darker then the skin of your arse, you don't have to go."

Thea held her giggles back behind her hand.

Oliver had to admit he had a point. "Fine," he said.

"I have no school this week and I have tomorrow off. Let's go," Thea said with a grin. Oh she had him trapped. "You can come too," She said to Slade, and didn't that grin just grow.

"Um?" Slade's eyebrows shot up.

"Well," the grin surely could not get any bigger at this point, but it did become more devilish, "it would be unfair to have to take Diggle to look after Oliver and I when we have a perfectly good naval commander who suggested the whole idea."

Slade was taken back for a second but then he grinned. She had trapped the both of them. "Oh mini me," he sighed happily, "you are so perfect."

"How am I ever going to survive with the two of you?" Oliver questioned.

"You're not," Thea said simply. Without looking she raised a hand up to Slade.

Slade smirked and high fived her.

Moira just watched the whole display, having no idea what so ever of what to feel. So for now she would let things play out and wait to see what would happen next. Before she did that however, she needed to speak with Oliver. There was something he should know.

* * *

The rest of the night went by smoothly; the family and their guest chatted together in the living room until past for Oliver the idea of watching a film had been forgotten about, though the idea of going to the beach had not. Also, due to the lateness and the alcohol Slade had consumed, Moira offered him a room for the night, which he accepted with polite gratitude. The nature of Slade's crass yet very polite personality was unusual but, and Moira would not admit this, likeable. He was a rough and mysterious, yet kind and funny individual.

"Oliver," Moira called to her son as she came down the staircase, "A word."

"Sure," Oliver said, feeling curious.

Thea was showing Slade a free room as per Moira's request, so the ground floor was empty aside from the mother and son.

Moira took a seat at the sofa a few strides away from the bottom of the stairs and held out her arm in 'please sit' gesture.

Oliver took a seat opposite her. "Mom, what's wrong?" he asked, a little confused.

"I don't mind you and Thea going away with Slade. He seems like a good guy," She started, "but I think there is something you should know first."

"Okay," Oliver said, patting his legs. "Go for it."

"Slade likes you," Moira said.

The thumping of Oliver's heart quickened. "Okay?"

"The way he looks at you, the way he talks about you," she listed, "he smiles every time you speak and always sticks close to you." The sad look in his eyes when she asked if Oliver loved his girlfriend. She sighed, "Oliver, he likes you. I just want you to understand that."

The words 'I like him too' pulled at his mouth, wanting so badly to come out, but he couldn't do it. Oliver shook his head with a grin. "First Thea and now me," he joked.

"As much as I hate to admit it..." Moira smiled weakly, "It's good having him around, for you and Thea. If you let him think that there's a chance for much longer, you may lose him as a friend all together," she warned.

Her words were of no use, seeing as she didn't understand what was really happening, but it did make Oliver think. He wanted to be seen standing close to his boyfriend by his mother and his friends, he wanted to hold Slade's hand as they walked down the street, he didn't want Slade to be a secret. Oliver may have not been leading Slade on the way his mother thought he was, but in another way he was; being with him and then hiding that relationship away when he was in public. It was just plain unfair. They had trained, worked and fought together for over four friendship and the relationship they had built in the few moments of freedom had given them an unbreakable bond. Slade would not give up on being with Oliver if he was hidden away a little longer, but he shouldn't have to.

"I have misled a lot of people in my life," Oliver said, remembering his countless relationships that should have never been. He looked his mother in the eyes. "I will never do that to Slade."

* * *

Oliver walked down the hall, following the sound of Slade's voice. Turning the corner he found the older man was talking on his mobile.

"Yes for tomorrow night. If we need the room for longer, can we tell you that night or the following morning?" Spotting Oliver from the corner of his eye he turned and gave the younger man a smile. He then pointed to a door belonging to one of the spare rooms.

Oliver returned the smile and headed inside.

Thea sat cross-legged with her laptop on her lap on the spare double bed. Spotting her brother, she waved him over.

Oliver closer the door softly behind him, so as not to disturb Slade, and sat down with his sister on the bed.

She opened a tab to the website of a hotel in New Jersey. The pictures showed a rather attractive interior with cream walls and white staircases, a large bar area and a few pictures of the beach – or possibly beaches, Oliver wasn't sure-, nearby. "It's real close to Bay Head beach, which doesn't allow food and most others things, so it shouldn't be as crowded as most beaches," she said, smiling at the screen.

"You're really looking forward to this, aren't you?" Oliver asked.

"It's gonna be a lot of fun, Ollie," her smile grew.

Oliver frowned, touching the one of the larger scars on his chest.

"Okay," Slade said, walking into the room, "the room is booked. We have a room on the second floor, two bedrooms, two double beds," he said.

"I'll go with Slade, I'm used to his octopus ways," Oliver said, smirking.

"Hello pot, I'm kettle, you're black," Slade shot back, then he turned to Thea. "Do you want me to get you a night light along the way or do you want to bring some of your stuffed animals?"

Thea looked at her brother, who looked back at her. After a few seconds they nodded, turned to Slade in unison and said "Dick."

Slade chuckled.

Thea's phone started vibrating on the bed, indicating she had a call "Back in a sec," she said, picking up the phone and exiting the room.

"Rather late to be getting a call," Slade commented.

* * *

"Who are you calling?" Tommy asked his girlfriend with a yawn.

"Thea," Laurel said, eyebrows knitted together. "She sent me a text asking if we could talk as soon as possible."

"Odd," Tommy commented.

"Yeah it- Thea? Hey," Laurel smiled lightly. "What's wrong?" she asked. After a few seconds she held up her hand as if that would make Thea pause in what she was saying. "The beach?"

Tommy raised a brow.

"You're taking Oliver to the beach?" she smiled. "That sound great, when?" she listened for a few seconds, then she grinned. "Oh I see. Yes, you can have tomorrow off. Have fun. Night."

"The beach? How did she manage that?" Tommy pondered, rubbing his chin as if he had an invisible goatee.

"Maybe that Slade guy helped," she pointed out.

"Oliver's bodyguard mentioned him. Still haven't met this guy," he said, crossing his arms.

Laurel blinked "Wait," She said, "You don't know him?"

"Never heard of him until last week, no idea when Oliver met him."

"Five years ago."

Tommy lowered his brows. "Come again?"

Laurel took a seat next to him on the sofa. "They met five years ago. He taught Oliver Russian."

Tommy shrugged his shoulders. "Never heard of the guy."

"Nobody has..." Laurel looked down in thought. Spotting her phone, she got an idea. "Let's see what dad can find out."

* * *

Detective Lance stretched his arms out until his shoulders popped, it was about time he headed home. He mobile chimed and buzzed on his desk. He raised a brow, but grabbed it nonetheless. 'Laurel', it read. What could she want at... Lance glanced at the cheap plastic clock hanging on the wall, after this call he was going home. "Hello," he said into the mouthpiece, a smile pulling at his lips.

_"Hey dad. Can you help me with something?"_

Lance tensed in his chair, worry bubbling in his stomach. "Okay."

_"Could you run a background check on someone for me?"_

"Name?" he asked without hesitation, reaching for his mouse and shaking it left and right until the computer awoke.

_"Slade Wilson."_

"Odd name," he commented, typing it into the search engine.

Laurel laughed lightly._"Tell me about it. He's about forty, Australian and in the Navy."_

"Found him," Lance said, eyeing the man in the picture. "What do you want to know?" he asked.

_"Anything you can tell me, especially about where he's been in the past five years."_

Detective Lance typed away for about half a minute before he said "That's weird."

_"What is it?" _she asked.

"Wilson was in the Navy from age 18 to thirty-one but he was not honourably or dishonourably discharged, he took a job with specialised training."

_"How special?"_

"I can't tell at this point but it looks like he went away to do it and..." a notice appeared on the screen when he clicked to try to find out more. "It's classified."

_"Classified?"_

"By the ASIS?"

_"Who?"_

Lance typed for a few more seconds before saying "The Australian Secret Intelligence Service? What the hell..." he frowned but was determined to find out more. He looked into Wilson's credit history and found something interesting. "Now this is really odd."

_"Go on."_

"Wilson has multiple accounts and goes without using his accounts for months at a time. A lot of the time he's moving money to different accounts which I can't track," he said, "But the weirdest thing of all is that he stopped using his accounts altogether on September, and starting using them again in March."

_"What's weird about that?"_

"The six years of absolutely no use in-between," Lance sat back in his seat, trying to figure out what was going on.

Laurel gasped. _"That's not possible,"_ she said, _"I know someone who said they met him here in Starling City five years ago."_

"Your friend is lying," Lance said, eyeing the dates on the screen. "He last used one of his accounts six years ago in China."

_"China..." _she repeated.

"He's been using a hotel here for two weeks, then he bought a place in the glades," he glanced down to the last thing Wilson had bought. "And he's just paid for a double room in a hotel in New Jersey."

Laurel did not reply.

"Laurel? What's wrong?" Lance asked, concerned

_"This guy is just full of mysteries," _she said. _"Please tell me if you find out anything more."_

Lance sighed. "Please tell me you're not after this guy."

_"I'm not. He's just one weird_ guy."

* * *

Slade, Oliver and Thea stayed up for a while longer, chatting about what to do when they got to New Jersey, before Slade decided enough was enough.

"I never thought I would be the responsible adult, but we need to get to bed," Slade said, standing up off the bed.

"It doesn't suit you," Oliver said. "I'm the only one here who hasn't used drugs," he realised.

Slade clicked his fingers at Thea. "Write that down, we'll have to get back to that."

"Wait, what did you do?" Thea asked.

"Weed."

"That's not that bad."

"For about ten years."

Thea was taken back by that. "Wow," she said, "How did you never get found out?"

"I was always sober when I was in the Navy," he said.

"What were you running away from?" she asked.

Slade blinked, she was a rather clever young woman. "Loss of family. Christmas was the worst," he said.

She nodded. "I understand. Who'd you lose?"

"Thea." Oliver scolded.

"It's alright," Slade said, sitting back on the bed. "I was fourteen. Australia is warm all year round so one night in the winter I went camping with some friends," he smiled sadly. "Christmas is great for family gatherings, especially in our house, seeing as it had a lot of bedrooms," he said. "Family gatherings, however, are not good for a methane leak. I lost all of them."

Thea froze, not knowing what to say.

"The trick is to keep the memory of those you have lost and cherish those you have left," he smirked. "From my cousin, from Canada, who became a brother," he looked over to Oliver, "to those who, although they have no blood relation, treat you like family," he smiled.

* * *

Slade switched on the lamp, which brought light to the pitch-black room. Not that he minded the dark but the light had the advantage of giving him sight. Removing everything but his boxers, he took the rest of his clothes, folded them neatly and placed them on top of the Chester drawers, minus his boots that sat next to the large wooden set of drawers. Spotting his Iphone on the side table, next to the lamp, he picked it up and set an alarm. He was not very big on technology, but he had to admit he liked his phone. Mobiles had come a long way since he'd been gone. Lastly, he slipped his legs under the covers and propped his back up with pillows, as the headboard was made up of a pattern of cold, black metal.

Slade sat for about a minute and a half in wait before he heard movement behind the door and smirked lightly as the handle turned.

"Hey," Oliver said as he opened the door, slipping in before turning and ever so gently shutting the door behind him.

"Hey," Slade said, giving his boyfriend a light smile.

Oliver returned the smile and made his way to the bed. When he got there, Slade moved aside and pulled the overs back for him. Oliver quickly pulled off his pyjamas and climbed inside, wrapping his arms around Slade's waist.

"Christ, you're cold," Slade said. Without a second thought, the older man slid under the covers and grabbed hold of Oliver; one hand on his shoulder and the other on his hip. He then manoeuvred Oliver into straddling his lap and pulled the younger man's chest to his, running his warm hands up and down Oliver's back, who arched his back slightly every time Slade dipped down the slope of his spine.

Oliver lent up and kissed Slade's full lips before he tucked his head under the older man's chin and wrapped his arms around his ribs. "Goodnight," he very near mumbled, energy quickly leaking from his body, his eyelids becoming heavy.

"Goodnight Oliver," Slade said, one arm curled protectively around Oliver's ribs, the other moved to turn off the lamp, which was thankfully just in reach, before slowly petting the dirty blonde hair.

Oliver unsurprisingly fell asleep quickly, a blissful smile plastered across his face.


	11. Tuesday

**Due to writing more then I was meant to, the chapter "Tuesday" will be spilt into two parts, this being part one. Also on a side note I have realised that I can not fit in certain ideas (nothing to due with the plot, just a few fun moments) So I will be starting a second Slade/Oliver story to put the ideas there, I don't know how far that story will go but we will see.**

* * *

- Lian Yu -

In winter it snowed, just as it did in Philadelphia; the snow came quickly, and long before it stopped it would become impossible to get around without calling someone to get the roads cleared. Oliver liked snow, or maybe he had just gotten used to it, but either way he could not deny that the white, almost soft looking blanket that covered the land was beautiful. The thing that Oliver liked most about the snow, however, was being able to see the beauty and feel the cool air and then going back inside to change into some warm clothes, in the warm living room, in front of the fire, with some hot food and drinks waiting there for him. Lian Yu was different, however.

The snow would stop for several hours before starting again, but being mid-winter the snow had built up to just below Oliver's knees. Yao Fei said it was a light winter and Oliver had hoped they would not be on Lian Yu for a heavy one. Now however, as he eyed the blood pooling in the snow, he really hoped they all would.

He'd been out with Yao Fei; the man would hunt with his bow while Oliver carried their haul. Yao Fei was teaching him archery but with food currently being vital the archer decided to hold off Oliver's teachings until the winter had passed. Shado and Slade also hunted, once again using Oliver as a pack mule, but the blonde was not annoyed. His talents were limited in survival and if he was useful doing the basic jobs then he was still being useful.

The group moved around a lot, they hid their tracks well and Fyers could only spread his men out so far before they became easy targets. The group had little hiding places for stolen weapons and other goods and they had multiple living areas they switched between when they needed to. The cold and the snow was making getting around more difficult, especially considering it was a lot harder to cover their tracks, in the short-term, if they were caught. In the long term it was great because snow covered everything. So the group had made a little camping site on the other end of the Island, far away from Fyers, to hold up for winter. Far enough into the forest to stay out of the cold breeze, they had set up a large tent - courtesy of Fyers of course - layered with as much tarpaulin and other insulating materials as they could get their hands on and hand-made wooden poles put up to support the extra weight. Using anything white they could find; sheets, clothing, even bandages, they had whitened the sides of the tent and left the slightly pointed roof to get covered in snow, making them a hard target to find in the white environment, especially when the wind picked, filling the air with rapidly moving, almost eyeball seeking, large puffs of falling snow.

Oliver turned around so Yao Fei could put the freshly killed rabbit into the military backpack Slade had donated. Another bad thing about snow is that blood was easily seen on it, they couldn't take any chances. Two rabbits and a good-sized bird was not much, even if Slade and Oliver had gone out hunting before, Yao Fei and Oliver again before that and Slade and Shado were also out hunting at this very moment. Four grown people doing a lot of work need a lot of food. Time was dedicated to hunting only, to save energy, and they would have to keep going like this until the snow melted away. If they could survive mercenaries, they could survive this.

Four shots rang out, then nothing. Yao Fei looked around, trying to figure out where the sounds had come from when in the distance he saw a flock of birds flying out of the trees. Animals always run away from danger. Yao Fei took off to investigate the shots, Oliver following along behind.

Yao Fei got to the scene and a second later he was speeding towards it.

Oliver knew that was not a good sign. The blonde made his way over to where Yao Fei had stood. Looking around the tree he could just see five black clothed bodies, a patrol group who had likely been ordered to search the area. Luckily, Oliver and his newfound friends never hunted near their camp. It was impossible to know who fired what gun and how many times, but at whom was an easy question. Oliver was making his way over when he heard what Yao Fei must have seen. Shado sounded panicked.

Oliver picked up speed; he spotted Yao Fei and Shado behind the trees. They were bending over and...

Oliver froze. "Slade?" he mumbled. "No." he ran over to where Slade knelt, body hunched over, holding on to his stomach. As Oliver got closer he saw all the blood. "Slade..." Oliver stood a couple of feet away, trying not to get in the way. It looked really bad.

"Shot?" Yao Fei asked as he pulled out the emergency bandages he had in his coat pocket.

"Stabbed," Shado said.

Oliver smiled meekly, fear still pulling at him. Stabbed was good, better than being shot, as long as the wound was not too deep

"S' okay," Slade said through gritted teeth. The Australian forced himself to slowly roll on to his back, grunting lightly. His dark eyes met Oliver's aqua green eyes, appearing a vibrant blue in the bright light. Slade gave the younger man a reassuring smile, which he barely kept when his wound was touched.

Yao Fei and Shado got to work on holding off the bleeding, both to keep Slade well, as well as someone could be after being stabbed anyway, and to stop the blood leading a trail right to them.

"We've got to go," Slade said, breathing hard. Thankfully he had the sense not to force himself up, but any more time and he probably would, stab wound be damned.

Shado looked at her father. He nodded.

"I'm sorry, my friend," Yao Fei said.

Before any more could be said, Yao Fei and Shado grabbed hold of Slade by his shoulders and back, and with one big pull they forced him on to his feet. Slade, understandably, swore very loudly, staggering to the left, very nearly falling back down but supporting himself at the last second. Yao Fei took one of Slade's arms and wrapped it around his shoulders.

"Shado," Yao Fei turned back to his daughter, "You go ahead, plan us the shortest safe route back you can find."

Shado nodded, running ahead and scouting the area.

Yao Fei turned to Oliver. "Oliver," he tilted his head to make a 'come here' gesture.

Oliver didn't need to be told twice. He touched Slade's other arm, the hand of which was tightly clamped over his wound to hold the bandages.

Slade looked into Oliver's eyes, a look of worry but trust. "Hold it as hard as you can," he told the blonde.

Oliver nodded. He covered Slade's hand with his own and when Slade pulled his own hand away Oliver pushed down hard, sealing off any chance of the blood escaping.

Slade grunted but wrapped his free arm around Oliver's shoulder, making sure to put most of his weight on Yao Fei.

A few seconds later Shado appeared. "Follow me," she said.

They all stood there for a second before Slade forced himself to move. Turns out a lack of food, sleep and then being stabbed takes a lot out of a guy.

"I know you're not one to follow orders," Oliver said as they started walking, "But it's kinda important right now."

Slade smirked, making sure not to laugh, as the movement would only cause more pain.

Oliver looked at the Australian. The colour was draining from his face but he looked more awake and pained than drowsy. Oliver prayed that Slade would be okay, he could not lose him, not like this.

* * *

Oliver jolted out of his dream... Well, memory. His eyes were wide open and he was panting but thankfully Slade was still fast asleep. He was, however, a light sleeper, so Oliver did his best to stay perfectly still, breathing deeply and waiting for his body to calm again. Oliver hated the dream of their first winter, really hated it. He wanted to just fall back to sleep but he had a feeling that doing so would not be easy, judging by his past experiences with this particular dream.

Oliver's breath started to even out as he watched Slade sleep. The older man was lying on his back still, even after Oliver had rolled off. His eyelashes were fluttering, indicating that he was dreaming, although Oliver had no clue if it was good or bad. Oliver sighed at his tiredness but then he smiled, Slade was here, after all. Oliver tucked himself between his boyfriend's side and arm, his smile growing as said arm curled around his body unconsciously. Oliver reached a hand down ever so slowly, to the scar left by the blade, proving to himself that it was over and dealt with. Slade was alive, not dead, not dying, alive.

* * *

Oliver woke up when he heard a beeping sound and the warmth next to him moved away, making the mattress lift and give out a soft and thick crinkling sound from the shift in weight. He blinked once before opening his eyes; green gems looking around in confusion from the mixture of what was happening and his dazed state from being awoken.

A warm hand rested on his cheek. "Go back to sleep."

Oliver looked up to see Slade and smiled.

"I've got to grab some clothes, but I'll be back to get you and Thea, Okay?"

Oliver nodded.

Slade quickly got dressed before he sat on the edge of the bed to do up his boots. Oliver watched, wrapped up in the covers to keep in the heat, feeling more saddened as each item of clothing was pulled back on.

Glancing at the blinds, Oliver noticed that the cream blinds only had a tinge of light illuminating them. "What time is it?"

"Early," Slade said. He tied up the last bits of his boots before he crawled up onto the bed, making sure his boots stayed away from the sheets. He crawled over to Oliver and lay down next to him, wrapping his arm around the younger man's duvet covered waist and kissing his forehead. "I'm sorry that I have to go," he said, lips moving along Oliver's skin gently.

"It's okay," Oliver said, moving up to kiss Slade's lips.

"I'll be back soon," Slade said as the two separated.

"Okay," Oliver murmured.

They kissed.

"The plan is to have breakfast when we get there, by the way," Slade said

"Good to know," Oliver replied.

They kissed.

"I'm never going to leave, am I?" Slade asked.

"Probably not," Oliver grinned, which grew when their lips joined once more.

The two kissed (and tried to say goodbye) numerous times before Slade finally pushed himself up and off the bed, knowing he would never leave otherwise. As he opened the door he turned to look at Oliver one last time and smiled as the younger man cocooned his body with the duvet. The Australian forced himself out of the room.

Only when he was out of the room and walking down the corridor, filled with early morning light, did his smile slip. He had received a text just shortly after he had nodded off to sleep; the buzzing had thankfully not awoken Oliver. At the time he decided to ignore it, which was unlike him but he was happy, in bed, with his gorgeous boyfriend, so who could really blame him? This was not, however, a text that should have been ignored. It was a message from one of his colleagues at ASIS, a tech to be exact, asking Slade to call him as soon as possible. There was only one text, no calls and it was from a tech agent, not a special forces agent like Slade or their Director-General, but an agent needed to talk to him nonetheless.

Slade fished his phone from his jeans pocket once he had gotten outside, clicking the call button as he gently closed the front door.

"Wilson?" a male voice asked.

"I would have answered before but you texted me just after one in the morning," Slade commented, making his way over to his motorbike ."What's on your mind?"

"Someone looked at your credit and job history, anything they could get their hands on really."

Slade froze, leg pausing in mid-air, he pulled it back. "Can't you tell me where they are?" First things first; who was looking him up and why? The only people who knew that he and Billy Wintergreen were the seemingly mythical duo of Stroke of Death, or DeathStroke, were those who had clearance at ASIS and the people who had resided on Lian Yu, who were either dead or imprisoned in a secret facility, or back at home in China and the manor Slade had just left.

"Starling City police department in Pennsylvania."

Slade smirked. "I don't remember getting a warrant for that. Was it a detective or possibly Sergeant Lance, by chance?"

"Detective now, demoted as Sergeant a while ago," said the tech. "He stopped after he saw the ASIS notice. Followed by Googling what ASIS was."

Slade snorted, then his tone became serious. "Wipe everything ASIS."

"Yes sir," the agent said, immediately typing.

"This is a personal matter. I'll take care of it. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Slade ended the call, slipped the phone back into his pocket, removed the bike from its stand and walked it down the path, not wanting to wake anyone. He sighed and forced a smile, he was going to enjoy his trip; the matter of Detective Lance would have to be handled later.

* * *

Detective Lance sat at his desk with a cup of hot coffee. Over the last five years he seemed to be adding more and more instant coffee to his coffee cup, five more years and he would be filling each cup half-full of the strong, dark brown granules before even adding water. Maybe he should just get a pouch of instant coffee and eat it with a spoon; better yet, he could get a bag of coffee beans and eat them like nuts. The only other people in the building this early were the lab techs, due to the number of machines that had to be turned on and updated before the day even began for the officers. Lance had always got on well with the lab techs, even way back when he was a beat cop.

The tech and police tended not to get on due to differences in opinion that could, and often would, clash; a police officer could find the culprit who committed the crime but due to the tiniest piece of somehow vital evidence - or lack thereof - he could get away. Lab techs were often also the ones discovering evidence that showed an officer behaving in a manner that could get him demoted or fired. However on the other side, officers blamed techs for disproving evidence, when it was only their job to present **all** of the facts and not just those that a judge and jury could be persuaded by. Also, the techs rarely got any real recognition from all of their hard work, which was just plain insulting. Lance always treated the techs well, thanked them for all that they did for him and his cases, and Lance often got his tests back first. He never asked that of them, but it was nice nonetheless.

Detective Lance went to look at Slade Wilson's accounts again. He was looking to see if the dates that he was in different countries corresponded with certain events happening around the same time, to see what this man was really up to, but when he got there, he found nothing.

"The hell?" he squeezed his eyelids shut as if it would stop what clearly had to be the coffee making him hallucinate... Right?

Everything between leaving the navy and living in Starling City was gone.

"How the hell if this possible?" he quickly went to Wilson's profile to find that all information about his training after he left the navy was gone. Everything between leaving the navy and coming to Starling City was gone, nine years of information, completely gone. Lance then realised that he had never looked at how long this man was due to stay in the United States, and for what reason he was here. It can't have been for just a visit if he had an apartment. The detective near yelled in demand of 'How the hell is this possible?!' when he found that the bastard had a Green Card. A person can't get one unless they'd lived in the US for at least five years, three if they were married to a citizen. This guy had only lived in the US for what, three weeks? How the hell did this guy get his hands on a United States Permanent Resident Card?

Lance pulled up the account details and basic history, leaving out the identification information - because if this guy was dangerous, he didn't want anyone else getting involved in this - then he made his way over to one of the techs.

"Hey John, do you mind helping me out with something?" he asked.

John had light blond hair and dark brown eyes. He was only in his early thirties, but was the head of the department on the forensic side of things. Overall, he was reliable and was close to the detective, someone who would never sell out the older man but at the same time was not afraid to tell him when he was walking on thin ice. "Um?" he raised a brow, walking over to the detective. His young trainee (more there for paper work really) Bradley trailing along behind, big brown eyes full of excitement even this early in the morning and his spiky black hair wobbled lightly side to side, slightly too long for the gel he was using,

"I was looking at some account details and work history of this guy last night," he explained as the techs arrived at his desk. "I didn't find anything incriminating, just odd, and at one point a classified notice on one piece. Anyway, I just went to go over it and all the weird bits are gone."

"Gone?" John asked, blinking quickly as if he himself was hallucinating.

"Not blocked, no notice of classification, just plain gone," Lance said.

"That's not..." John stood there stunned for a second, eyebrows low in confusion.

"Is that even possible?" Bradley asked, curious and not even remotely concerned.

"Can I use your computer for a second?" John asked the detective, who quickly got out of his seat. Taking the seat, without even a smile or a nod from his still paralysed brain, John typed away with knitted brows, trying to see where the information had got to. After a few minutes of typing and mumbled half-sentences like 'where did…?' and 'how did…?', John gave up and sat back in his borrowed seat.

"What is it?" Lance asked.

"Okay," John started, holding his hands up as if he had hold of the explanation and yet he still had no idea what it meant. "Information always leaves a trail of where it was moved to and by what manner, to a degree. It the case of legal information such as this; you can only move or classify it - it will always exist. But in this case..." he held up a hand to the computer, pausing and holding his breath for a moment, not believing what he was about to say. "It's gone."

"Just gone?" Bradley asked, shocked by his teacher's reaction.

"There should be a notice, saying that the information can't be accessed," he said, waving a hand at the computer. "There is nothing saying anything has gone anywhere. Like it never even existed," he shook his head, trying to make sense of the matter.

"Who was the classified notice from before from?" Bradley asked the detective.

"From ASIS," Lance said. "I had to look them up. It's like the FBI or CIA of Australia."

"The Australian Secret Intelligence Service? Those guys are really secretive," John noted. "They have been around for fifty odd years, but only came out of the wood work a few years back."

"So deleting everything was just counter-intelligence?" Lance asked.

Bradley raised a brow, looking over to see what his boss had to say.

"Stopping secret information from being found out," John explained before turning back to Lance. "From their secretiveness, the rules that don't seem to apply to them and their clearly advanced technology, I would say that they handle some serious information. I wouldn't push the matter, detective. They will already know that you were the one who looked up this information."

Lance leant against his partner's desk. "So I should wait for some ASIS agents to come and take me away?" It was then that he realised that he should call Laurel and demand how she knew this man. He grabbed the mobile from his desk but paused at what John said next.

"If that was the case, you would have been detained already, for questioning when they got here," John said. "The fact that you're not could mean that what you found wasn't that important and the matter has been taken care of any how. I hope for your sake that that's the case."

Lance frowned, searching for his daughter's number as he made his way out the room.

* * *

"Who's calling this early?" Tommy groaned into the back of his girlfriend's neck as her 50s home phone ringtone rang out loudly from where it lay only a foot away.

Laurel reached for the phone with her eyes still closed. She missed it the first time, and slid her fingers along the nightstand, eventually feeling the cool plastic cover and grabbing hold of the phone. She opened her eyes just enough to see the answer button, pressed it, and held it to her ear before closing her eyes once more, the stinging sensation numbing. "Yes... Dad?"

Tommy froze.

"Wait what?" she asked. "One thing at a time dad. Hang on," she moved out from under Tommy's arm, which had been wrapped around her waist. "You go back to sleep, I'll deal with this," she said to her boyfriend, walking out of her bedroom and likely to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee.

"Crap," Tommy hissed, grabbing his own phone to send Oliver yet another text. He couldn't think of a single thing to say to Laurel last night. Walter had covered for Oliver once before when he had spoken Russian at dinner and honestly Tommy hadn't really thought of it since; Oliver had a few more pressing secrets at hand. Then Laurel had called her dad and found even more information Tommy could not process, let alone explain. He was getting sick of Oliver lying to him and even sicker of having to lie to Laurel.

Tommy sighed and threw the covers off of his body, shivering as the cold hit him, but at least it made a decent wake up call. He made his way over to where his drawer was, smiling at the fact that Laurel had given him one, and pulled out a pair of pyjama bottoms, pulling them on before making his way to the kitchen. Unlike Laurel, who slept in a pyjama top and a pair of shorts, Tommy much preferred to just sleep in his boxers and even though her father was not actually here, it still made Tommy feel a little uncomfortable being in the same room as that man's voice with his daughter and being near butt naked. Tommy stopped just before he reached the bedroom door and went back for a shirt.

"That's just... Yes, how the hell could he have done... Well, any of that?" Laurel said, glancing up at her boyfriend as he made his way to the coffee pot.

Tommy busied himself, trying to make a cup of coffee as slowly as humanly possible as a way of waiting for Laurel to finish the conversation with her father. She did so, thankfully before Tommy had to make a second cup in case he drank his first too quickly.

"You would not believe what my dad just told me," Laurel said, grabbing her coffee and moving to sit in the living room.

Tommy glared out the kitchen window, hoping it was facing the direction of the Queen manor. "I swear, Oliver," he warned through gritted teeth.

* * *

- Lian Yu -

Yao Fei and Oliver worked together to keep Slade walking. He slid here and there due to having to walk on the partly melted and therefore very slippery snow under the trees. They did this do reduce the chances of leaving tracks, but the more they walked the stupidly too far way back to camp, the more drained Slade became and the more he slid. At one point he slipped and fell forward, just managing to catch himself, the leg he had done so with shaking ever so slightly. Yao Fei and Oliver went slowly for a few steps but then Slade's legs buckled and he fell to his knees.

"Slade?!" Oliver gasped, having lost grip on the bandages as Slade fell. He quickly wrapped his arm around Slade's belly.

"Fuck's sake," Slade groaned weakly.

At that moment Oliver felt the most unbearably cold pain in his rib cage. Slade sounded so weak. He should be forcing his body to stand, ordering his legs to move at least, but he just sat there, pissed off but too weak to do anything. He was too pale for his naturally tanned skin and his breathing was heavy and raspy.

"How much longer?" Oliver called to Shado.

The young woman gave him a sad smile.

Oliver sighed. His shoulders sagged as exhaustion hit, he felt the weight as fatigue pulled at his arms and legs.

"We will rest for a while," Yao Fei said, placing a hand on Slade's shoulder. "You should rest my friend," he advised.

Slade did not say anything, no 'Don't think that's a wise idea mate.' nor a 'Just for a bit.' Not a thing.

Oliver tried to smile, tried to joke to Slade about Yao Fei's voice sounding like Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kid film (with a possible glare from Yao Fei because Mr. Miyagi was Japanese), but Oliver did not even have the strength to say 'Yes sensei'.

The two sat there for a few minutes. Yao Fei and Shado had quickly slipped up to find a shorter way back to camp. Slade stayed on his knees, but his breathing had gotten better. He chuckled weakly as Oliver moved his keffiyeh to cover more of his neck.

"How am I looking kid?" Slade asked, looking out to the trees

"Well, on the dulux colour chart you were mocha, now you're more summer fruits."

Slade laughed lightly, which shifted his wound and caused a sharp bite of pain at his nerves. "Fuck," he gasped. He leaned forward in pain and wrapped his arm instinctively over his wound, his arm curling around Oliver's, his hand resting on the younger man's.

Oliver moved so instead of being at Slade's side he was behind him; sat on his knees, he wrapped his other arm just above his and the older man's arm and rested his chin on Slade's shoulder, smiling faintly as Slade's leaned back into him and rested his head against Oliver's. After a few moments of silence Oliver spoke up. "At least you have a tan, I'm probably the colour of milk at this point," he joked.

"Probably?" Slade said, smirking.

"Shut up."

Slade's smirk grew. "I would have said cream. Don't worry kid," he said, turning and kissing Oliver's cheek, "I like the taste of your creamy skin, especially when it's drizzled with honey," he whispered, licking Oliver's skin lightly with the tip of his tongue.

Slade froze for a second, hearing crunching snow. Not long after, Yao Fei and Shado appeared.

"Really?" Shado asked. "Really? We were only gone for about ten minutes."

"At least most of my blood is not going to the wound anymore," Slade commented.

"I can assure you that we did not need to know that," Yao Fei said, making his way over to help Slade up.

Oliver went back to his side, face flushed red.

* * *

Oliver woke lying flat on his back, gripping the covers tightly in his clenched fists. He could feel the sweat on his skin and he was breathing heavily. He looked over to where Slade had slept and placed a hand on the space, which, although cold, did give the blonde a small spark of comfort. Oliver lay there for a while, waiting for his breath to even out before he got out of bed. There was really no point in trying to go back to sleep, he would have to get up soon or later anyhow. That's what's he told himself anyway seeing, as the lack of sleep from staying up last night and not being able to sleep well the night before had drained him. He had not paid a visit to anyone on the list for over a week and he always slept easily after one of his active, dirt-bag-visiting night outs, falling asleep once his head hit the pillow. It was a lot like his years back on Lian Yu. Apart from the first few nights with Yao Fei and then with Slade, all the energy Oliver used up just had him, in Slade's words, 'knackered'.

Oliver put his pyjamas back on (which had been abandoned on the floor) before sneaking back to his room, listening out for his mother if she was up, which could be likely. Once he was back to his room he grabbed a few items of clothing for today, tomorrow, a pair of shorts for the beach, a towel (in the very unlikely event he did swim) and a spare shirt, because there was no way in hell he was showing the people on the beach his chest. His scars were not attractive and even if Slade did not care about them, a beach full of people might. As well as that, he was lucky Thea had not mentioned the tattoo on his chest last time, let alone the one on his back. He could have lied and said he got them before, but it was clear by the fuzzy detail and thick ink that they were not good quality, like a man from money, like Oliver, would have.

After a quick shower and hair wash, Oliver quickly got dressed, which was good because just as he was doing up the last button of his shirt there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," he called.

Moira entered the room. "Getting ready to go, I see."

"Yeah," he smiled, moving over to the bed and folding his clothes and towel into a neat pile. "I got a text from Slade this morning. He went back home to grab some things. Oh, and we'll be getting breakfast in New Jersey." Oliver knelt to get the gym back from under his bed. He took a quick peek inside, seeing as how the last thing he had used it for was getting tools to hidden hideout back when he had started rebuilding the place, before putting it onto his bed and shoving his items inside.

Spotting the towel, Moira just had to ask. "You're really going to the beach?"

"Yep," Oliver said, zipping up the bag.

"And your..." she paused, not really wanting to say anymore. It was bad enough what happened to Oliver, let alone having scars to remember it by. Her heart welled with pain as she thought about what the doctor had said, she could not imagine her son like that, she just couldn't!

"I'll keep my shirt on," Oliver said. That was another thing Oliver missed about Lian Yu. No one in his little Island family ever made Oliver uncomfortable about his scars being on show, no comments or coos; they all had their own scars after all. Not to say there were no initial sad looks and guilt did tend to raise in Slade, both on behalf of his ex-partner and general 'as your boyfriend I should have looked after you' guilt. Yao Fei, also, always felt a sting of guilt every time he saw the arrow scar, more so if he saw the torture scars Oliver had sustained from protecting him.

Maybe it was after Oliver had just lost his dad, but Yao Fei had become like a father to him, pushing Oliver to keep going, to survive, even when the lessons were harsh. Oliver looked up to the man and even though archery had been something Oliver seemed to have a natural knack for, it also felt special, like something Yao Fei had given him. The bow Oliver had privately made in China took just over a week to make (which, luckily, was just under the amount of time it took to have his identity verified and travel plans back to the US made) and was made by a man Yao Fei had recommended, if by chance they ever got off the Island. The customized piece was a recurve bow, unlike Yao Fei's, but the shape made it easier to fight with, as did the fact that it was made of metal, which only made it pack a harder hit. Although the hand piece was the only part made of wood, it reminded Oliver a lot of his mentor's bow; the bow itself was metal, but it was the same jet-black colour as Yao Fei's leather grip. Yao Fei's bow also had darkened yellow ribbon strips on each side of the grip, while on Oliver's bow there were metal pieces that held the metal to the wood and the string to the bow, which were golden coloured. And that wasn't all. Oliver knew that even though he was sneaking around in a city, not a forest, and a mask would have probably been a better idea, he still wore the green hood, just like he had done with Yao Fei back on the Island. It gave him a connection to his past and his Island family.

That wanting to remember his family and his past had even inspired Oliver to get a tattoo just a day after he had got back to Starling City. It was better quality than his other tattoos, seeing as this one was professionally done. It went down his side and it consisted of names in Mandarin; thick black writing, so skilfully written it thinned out in the places to make the name 'Oliver Queen Yao'.

In Chinese culture the surname is often put before the first name. Yao Fei's real name was Fei Yao, or just Fei, but being proud of his family's heritage he always kept his last name when introducing himself. So, over time, everyone simply called him Yao Fei. It may or may not have been obvious, but Oliver though of them all as a family. Being that both the surname and race majority was in Yao Fei and Shado's favour, as they were living in China and Oliver learned Mandarin first, Oliver had always seen the four of them as the Yao family - if he had to put a name to it, that is. Queen for his biological family and Yao for his developed family, it seemed fair. It wasn't until after Slade came to Starling City that Oliver wondered if he should add Wilson to his tattoo. But, when you think about it, the name Wilson was Slade's origin and in a way it also felt like Oliver was hinting at marriage or something, so he thought against it. As well as that, Slade quickly realised and liked the meaning.

"I know Thea has seen them," Moira said.

Oliver looked up to meet her sad eyes. "She has, yes."

"Has anyone else?" she asked.

"Slade," Oliver grinned. "He doesn't mind them, he's pretty scarred too. When we first met we tried to play top trumps with injuries and scars, at least I'm in the running this time," he joked. At his mother's forced, sad smile, Oliver decided to take a different approach. "My girlfriend doesn't mind them, either."

Moira perked up at that. "Oh?"

Oliver smiled, remembering something Slade had once said. "She once said that they proved I was a strong person and to show them proudly like badges of honour... That might be a bit too soon," he added.

"As much as it pains me knowing you have them," Moira smiled, "my happiest day will be the day that you can do that."

Oliver smiled back.

Oliver's phone buzzed twice on his bed. Sitting snug between his pillow and duvet, Oliver picked up the phone to see that it was a text from Tommy. He opened it.

Answer asshole!

Oliver frowned, but then noticed that he had three missed calls and ten new text messages and every single one of them was from Tommy. "Oops," he looked back to his mother "Tommy needs to talk to me about something but after that I'll be downstairs. Is Thea up yet?" he asked

"Surprisingly, yes," Moira said.

Oliver nodded, impressed. "That is surprising."

"She's excited," Moira said. "I'll see you downstairs."

Oliver nodded and as soon his mother was out the door he rang Tommy. The phone rang for a long while and for a second Oliver almost thought he was going to get the answering machine, but then his childhood best friend answered.

_"The hell have you been, Oliver?!" _Tommy whispered sharply into the phone_._

"Why are you whispering?" Oliver asked.

_"Hang on."_

Tommy said and a minute later he returned, breathing heavier than before. _"I didn't want Laurel to hear us talking."_

Now Oliver was confused. "Why?"

"Well, let's see,"

Tommy said, sarcasm practically dripping from his voice, _"You're a liar and your friend Slade is involved in somehow with the ASIS."_

Oliver stood there stunned. "Wha- how..." he blinked and sat down on the bed. "What?"

_"Laurel asked her dad to look your friend up."_

Oliver stood up. "What do you know?" What does he know?

_"He'd not in the navy anymore, he took special training in some foreign country and when Lance looked into his credit history he found that the guy would disappear for months at a time." _Tommy said, sounding more annoyed and sarcastic with each piece of information

Oliver started to walk around his room in quick and sharp zigzag lines. Every new thing Tommy said was making things worse and worse. How the on Earth was he supposed to explain it all?

_"There was a notice by the ASIS saying that some parts were classified. The Australian Secret Intelligence Service, that's what it stands for Oliver." _Tommy's voice was bubbling with anger at this point. _"And this morning he went back to have a look and everything is gone Oliver, so they know he was looking at it."_

"Tommy," Oliver said, trying to get his friend to calm down.

_"You know what the worst part is Oliver? Do you?"_

Tommy asked, voice calming ever so slightly. _"All this stuff, Laurel believes you have a chance of not knowing. I know that you hide a lot of shit so it's un-fucking likely and Lance does not know you are involved, but you still had a chance of not knowing any of this."_

"Tommy?" Oliver paused in his walking. Tommy sounded upset, anger no more than a spark.

_"You lied," _Tommy said, sounding hurt._"You told everyone you met him five years ago but when Lance looked into his history he found no trace of him for the past six years. Six years, Oliver. How could you have met him? How, Oliver?"_

Oliver thought for about two seconds before he spoke, just as Tommy continued to rant in that hurt voice of his. There was no other way and in that instant Oliver decided enough was enough.

_"How Oliv-"_

"We met on the Island," Oliver said and almost instantly a wave of calm flowed through him and he felt lighter. "We met on Lian Yu," he said. "He works for ASIS. He went there six years ago to save a man and find out what was happening on that Island." Oliver sat back down on his bed. "The place was full of hundreds of paid soldiers with automatic assault rifles who would, and almost did, kill me. They tortured me, Tommy," he said quietly, closing his eyes. "Slade kept me alive. He only knew me for a week and he lost his chance to go home so he could save me. He trained me to fight and he made me strong enough to protect myself." He gripped the pillow tightly as anger built. "He stuck by me no matter what. He risked everything to make sure I would get back home. He's part of my family, he's..."

With his eyes closed, Oliver could picture Slade standing there, in his grey shirt and cargo pants, black bullet proof padding, gloves, boots and belt, his grey and black keffiyeh, even his beard and the light smudges of dirt on his neck and face from living out in the forest. Slade would chuckle, that wonderful, deep chuckle that Oliver had grown accustomed to, he would smirk at Oliver. "Might as well kid," he'd say. "in for a penny, in for a pound."

"He's my boyfriend of nearly five years," Oliver said. "I love him."

Tommy said nothing, and no one could really blame him with that much unexpected and/or unbelievable information coming at him all at once.

"I hate lying to you, Tommy and as good as it feels to tell someone who was not there for it, all that happened to me, I still hate that you know it, but..." Oliver opened his eyes, sighing as he let his body fall back, bouncing on the bed. "You're my friend."

_"Well... I'll admit, I did not expect any of that," _Tommy said, thankfully no longer sounding hurt or angry.

Oliver smirked. "Years ago I would never have imaged that I could date a guy."

_"I don't know man, you went out with some beefy girls," _Tommy pointed out.

"Funny."

Tommy laughed.

"Hate to add more unexpected things to the mix, but as long as we're being honest?" he smiled meekly even though Tommy couldn't see it.

_"Go on then."_

"When I said I never thought I could date, it was because I never thought I would ever build up the courage come out."

_"Wait, you're gay?" _Tommy said, sounding shocked.

"I did just tell you I'm dating a guy, right?" Oliver joked. "It's just that I never met anyone who was openly gay, and with my dad..."

_"He would not have handled that well," _Tommy admitted. _"Thanks for not lying."_

"Again," Oliver added.

Tommy laughed lightly.

"Thea, Slade and I are going to New Jersey for the day, but can we meet up when I get back? Haven't really spent much time with you since I've been home."

_"Yeah, sure. I'm sorry Oliver,"_

Tommy said, his voice sincere.

Oliver didn't know if Tommy was sorry for getting angry at him or about what had happened on Lian Yu. Oliver was pretty sure it was the latter, but still felt a little uncomfortable talking about it. So, he went for the first option. "At least now I know what they know, Slade and I can come up with an excuse for as much as we can."

Tommy was quite for a second. _"I guess,"_ he snorted._ "I guess now we can't play the 'who'd I do' game at clubs anymore."_

"We can, you just won't agree with me. Also, you're taken, I'm taken," Oliver smirked. "Plus, Slade's definitely the hottest guy I've ever seen."

_"Good to know."_

"He's got a hell of a body, can pick me up like I weigh nothing."

_"Don't need to know."_

"He's great in bed."

_"Oliver!"_

"He does this thing where I swear I-"

_"I'm hanging up!"_

Oliver laughed. "Alright, alright. Sorry, I couldn't resist," he smiled. "I'll see you when I get back."

_"Alright, but if you happen to accidently send me a dirty text meant for you boyfriend, I will never talk to you again," _Tommy warned, but there was no malice in his voice.

Oliver snorted. "Promise. Bye Tommy."

_"Bye Oliver."_

* * *

After the called ended, Tommy slipped his phone into his jeans pocket and smiled. It had been a long time since he'd heard Oliver laugh and joke like his old self. But still; Oliver, gay, since when? Forever, apparently. Tommy leant against the white walls belonging to the stairwell of Laurel's apartment building and sighed. He had told Laurel that he had to go to the club to check and order inventory, so he couldn't exactly go back now.

* * *

Slade had only just parked when Thea appeared at the front door.

"Morning," She called before taking a sip from her favourite, large, lime-coloured cup filled coffee. She gave a happy sigh before asking, "Coffee?"

Slade removed his helmet. "Sounds good," he got off the bike and knocked the stand out with his boot. "Oliver up?"

"Allegedly," she said, adding, "He's on the phone with Tommy."

"Ah, right." Slade smiled as he made his way over to the youngest Queen. "Looking forward to New Jersey?"

"Hells yeah," she grinned

Slade chuckled and his smile grew when Oliver appeared next to his sister.

"Jesus!" Thea borderline yelled, jumping to the side, some coffee spilling from the side of her cup. "You scared the life out of me."

"Sorry," Oliver said to his sister before looking over to his boyfriend. "I need to talk to you."

Slade cocked a brow. "Alright." Slade sat down on one of the steps leading up to the Queen manor and held a hand out to welcome Oliver.

"I'll go make some coffee," Thea said, pointing inside with her index fingers. "Milk and sugar, Slade?"

"Black, one sugar," he said. "Thank you."

Thea nodded and went inside, shutting the door behind her.

Oliver sat down next to Slade. He said nothing, looking out to the garden and enjoying the breeze that flew by.

"What's wrong?" Slade asked, placing his hand on Oliver's shoulder.

Oliver sighed. "Tommy called me this morning," he said. "Detective Lance looked into you; he knows that you have something to do with ASIS, took specialised training, disappeared for months at a time and that you were missing for six years."

"I know."

Oliver perked up and he quickly turned to Slade.

"I got a call this morning from a tech at ASIS. I had him wipe everything, I know it's too late, but it'll stop this detective from finding out anything more," the older man explained.

Oliver sighed, head falling limply on to Slade's arm. "I don't know what to do," he chuckled sadly.

"Um?" Slade looked down to the younger man.

"I pretend to be a fool, I push people away and act cold, all so they'll leave what happed to me in those five years alone," he smirked, moving so his head lay on Slade's chest. "I finally give into something that I really want and..." he looked down, eyes beginning to water. His hand moved to rest on Slade's thigh. "The truth comes spilling out."

Slade wrapped his arm around Oliver, holding him close to his chest, his other hand resting on top of the younger man's. "It's not a flood yet," Slade said, kissing the blonde hair. "We'll find a way around it."

"I know," Oliver said. He smiled as Slade's warmth flowed into him and kept smiling even when a tear rolled down his cheek.

Raisa watched from one of the living room windows, her eyes boggled, her mouth open in shock, but then she smiled and walked away.


End file.
